John Calvin Commentary Genesis 42

Now when Jacob saw. Moses begins, in this chapter, to address the occasion which drew Jacob with his whole family into Egypt, and thus leaves it to us to consider by what hidden and unexpected methods God may perform whatever he has decreed. Although God's providence is in itself a labyrinth, yet when we connect the outcome of things with their beginnings, that admirable method of operation shines clearly in our view, which is not generally acknowledged, only because it is far removed from our observation. Also, our own indolence hinders us from perceiving God, with the eyes of faith, as holding the government of the world, because we either imagine fortune to be the controller of events or, adhering to near and natural causes, we weave them together and spread them as veils before our eyes. Therefore, since scarcely any more illustrious representation of Divine Providence is to be found than this history provides, let pious readers carefully exercise themselves in meditation on it, so that they may acknowledge that those things which, in appearance, are fortuitous, are directed by the hand of God.

Why do ye look one upon another? People are said to look at one another when each is waiting for the other, and, for lack of counsel, no one dares to attempt anything. Jacob, therefore, censures this inactivity of his sons because none of them endeavors to provide for the present necessity. Moses also says that they went into Egypt at their father's command, and even without Benjamin, by which he intimates that filial reverence at that time was great, because envy of their brother did not prevent them from leaving their wives and children and undertaking a long journey. He also adds that they came in the midst of a great crowd of people, which enhances the fame of Joseph, who, while supplying food for all Egypt and dispensing it by measure until the end of the drought, could also afford assistance to neighboring nations.

And Joseph was the governor over the land. Moses connects Joseph's honor with his fidelity and diligence. For although he possessed supreme authority, he nevertheless submitted to every possible laborious service, just as if he had been a hired servant.

From this example we must learn that as anyone excels in honor, he is bound to be more fully occupied with his duties; but those who desire to combine leisure with dignity utterly pervert the sacred order of God.

Moreover, let it be understood that the grain was sold by Joseph. It was not that he measured it out with his own hands or received the money for it himself (since it was offered for sale in many parts of the kingdom, and he could scarcely have attended to even one storehouse); rather, all the stores were under his power.

He made himself strange unto them. It may be asked for what purpose Joseph thus tormented his brothers with threats and terror. For if he was motivated by a sense of the injury he received from them, he cannot be acquitted of the desire for revenge. It is, however, probable that he was driven neither by anger nor a desire for vengeance, but that he was led by two just causes to act as he did.

For he desired both to regain his brother Benjamin and to determine—as if by putting them to the torture—what was on their minds: whether they repented or not, and, in short, how they had been living since he had last seen them. For, had he made himself known at the first interview, it was to be feared that they, keeping their father out of sight and wishing to cast a veil over the detestable wickedness they had committed, might only increase it with a new crime.

There was also a not unreasonable suspicion concerning his brother Benjamin, that they might attempt something treacherous and cruel against him. It was therefore important that they should be more thoroughly examined. This would allow Joseph, being fully informed of the state of his father’s house, to plan his course of action accordingly. It would also ensure that, before any pardon, some punishment might be inflicted that would lead them to reflect more carefully on the atrocity of their crime.

For although he afterwards showed himself to be forgiving and humane, this did not happen because his anger had subsided and he gradually became inclined to compassion. Rather, as Moses elsewhere adds, he sought solitude because he could no longer control himself. This indicates that Joseph had forcibly repressed his tears as long as he maintained a stern appearance and, therefore, that he had felt the same compassion towards them all along.

And it appears that a special impulse guided him in this whole course of action. For it was no common thing that Joseph, seeing so many who had caused his suffering, was neither angry nor changed in his manner, nor broke out into reproaches. Instead, he was composed in both his expression and his words, as if he had long and calmly considered the course he would pursue.

But it may be asked again whether his deception, which was accompanied by a falsehood, should not be blamed. For we know how pleasing integrity is to God and how strictly He prohibits His own people from deceit and falsehoods. I do not know whether God guided His servant by some special prompting to depart, without fault, from the common rule of action. This is because the faithful may sometimes piously do things that cannot lawfully be used as a precedent.

However, in considering the acts of the holy fathers, we must always be careful that these acts do not lead us away from the law that the Lord prescribes for everyone. By the general command of God, we must all cultivate sincerity. The fact that Joseph pretended something different from the truth provides no excuse for us if we attempt anything of the same kind.

For, although a freedom granted by special permission might be pardoned, yet if anyone, relying on a private example, does not hesitate to undermine the law of God to give himself permission to do what is forbidden by it, he will justly suffer the punishment for his audacity. And yet, I do not think we should be very eager to excuse Joseph, because it is probable that he suffered from some human weakness, which God forgave him. For only by Divine mercy could that deception, which in itself was not without fault, escape condemnation.

And Joseph remembered the dreams. When the boy Joseph had spoken of receiving homage, the absurdity of the thing drove his brothers to wickedly plan his death. Now, although they bow down to him without knowing him, there is still nothing better for them. Indeed, their only means of safety is to prostrate themselves at his feet and to be received by him as suppliants.

Meanwhile, their conspiracy, by which they attempted to overturn the heavenly decree so that they would not have to bear the yoke, was made fruitless. So the Lord forcibly restrains the obstinate, just as wild and rebellious horses are accustomed to being more severely treated, the more they kick and are restless.

Therefore, there is nothing better than humbly to calm one's mind to gentleness, so that each person may accept his own lot contentedly, even if it is not very magnificent. It may, however, seem absurd that Joseph should, at this time, have recalled his dream, as if it had been forgotten with the passing of years. Indeed, this could not have been the case, unless he had lost sight of God's promises.

I answer, what is recorded here is nothing other than what frequently happens to us: for although the word of God may be dwelling in our hearts, yet it does not continually come to our minds, but rather is sometimes so suppressed that it may seem to be extinguished, especially when faith is weighed down by the darkness of affliction.

Besides, it is not surprising if a long series of misfortunes should have buried his dreams, which suggested prosperity, in a kind of forgetfulness. God had exalted him, by these dreams, to the hope of great and distinguished authority. He is, however, cast into a well not unlike a grave.

He is taken from there to be sold as a slave; he is carried to a distant land; and, as if slavery would not be severe enough, he is locked up in prison. And though his misery was in some degree lessened when he was released from his iron chains, yet there was little, if any, hope of rescue.

I do not, however, think that the hope he held was entirely destroyed, but that a cloud passed over it, which deprived him of the light of comfort. A different kind of temptation followed, because nothing is more common than for great and unexpected good fortune to intoxicate its possessors.

And thus it happened, as we have recently read, that a forgetfulness of his father’s house crept into the mind of the holy man. He was not, therefore, so mindful of his dreams as he should have been. Another excuse may probably be suggested: that he, at that moment, compared his dreams with the event.

And truly, it was no ordinary virtue to immediately apply what was happening to confirm the divine prophecy. For we readily understand that those dreams which so quickly come back to mind had not been erased by the passage of time. So the disciples remembered the words of the Lord after he had risen from the dead; because, by witnessing the predicted event, their knowledge became clearer, while before, nothing but fleeting sparks of it had shone in their hearts.

By the life of Pharaoh. From this formula of swearing, a new question is raised. For what is commanded in the law—that we should swear only by the name of God—had already been engraved on the hearts of the pious, since nature dictates that this honor is to be given to God alone, namely, that people should defer to His judgment and make Him the supreme arbiter and vindicator of faith and truth.

If we were to say that this was not simply an oath, but a kind of solemn pledge, the holy man would be, to some degree, excusable. One who swears by God wishes Him to intervene to inflict punishment on perjury. Those who swear by their life or by their hand deposit, as it were, what they consider most valuable as a pledge of their faithfulness.

By this method, the majesty of God is not transferred to a mortal man, because it is a very different thing to cite God as a witness who has the right to take vengeance, and to assert by something most dear to us that what we say is true. So Moses, when he calls heaven and earth to witness, does not ascribe deity to them and thus fabricate a new idol. Instead, so that higher authority may be given to the law, he declares that there is no part of the world which will not cry out before the tribunal of God against the ingratitude of the people if they reject the doctrine of salvation.

Notwithstanding, I confess, there is something in this form of swearing which Joseph uses that is deserving of censure. For it was a profane adulation among the Egyptians to swear by the life of the king, just as the Romans swore by the genius of their prince after they had been reduced to such bondage that they made their Caesar equal to gods.

Certainly, this mode of swearing is abhorrent to true piety. From this it may be perceived that nothing is more difficult for the holy servants of God than to keep themselves so pure, while living amidst the filth of the world, as not to contract any spots of defilement from it. Joseph, indeed, was never so infected with the corruptions of the court that he ceased to be a pure worshipper of God; nevertheless, we see that in accommodating himself to this depraved custom of speaking, he had received some stain.

His repetition of the expression shows that when anyone has once become accustomed to evil, they become exceedingly prone to sin repeatedly. We observe that those who have once rashly assumed the license of swearing pour forth an oath every third word, even when speaking of the most frivolous things. Therefore, we ought to use all the more caution, lest any such indulgence harden us in this wicked custom.