John Calvin Commentary Genesis 45:26

"And they told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt. And his heart fainted, for he believed them not." — Genesis 45:26 (ASV)

And Jacob’s heart fainted. We know that some people have fainted from sudden and unexpected joy. Therefore, certain interpreters suppose that Jacob’s heart was, in a sense, suffocated, as if seized by a kind of ecstatic stupor. But Moses assigns a different cause: namely, that not having confidence in his sons, he was agitated between hope and fear.

And we know that those who are held in suspense by hearing some incredible message are struck with torpor, as if they were lifeless. It was not, therefore, a simple feeling of joy, but a certain mixed agitation that shook Jacob’s mind. Therefore, Moses shortly after says that his spirit revived when, having returned to himself and being composed in mind, he believed what he had heard to be true.

And he shows that his love towards Joseph had not languished with the passage of time, since he set no value on his own life, except to the extent that it would permit him to enjoy seeing Joseph. He had previously assigned to himself continual sorrow, even to the grave; but now he declares that he will have a joyful death.

CHAPTER 46.