John Calvin Commentary Genesis 46:31

"And Joseph said unto his brethren, and unto his father`s house, I will go up, and tell Pharaoh, and will say unto him, My brethren, and my father`s house, who were in the land of Canaan, are come unto me;" — Genesis 46:31 (ASV)

I will go up and show Pharaoh. After Joseph had gone out to meet his father to honor him, he also provides what will be useful for him. For this reason, he advises Jacob to declare that he and all his family were keepers of cattle, so that he might obtain from the king a dwelling-place for them in the land of Goshen.

Now, although his moderation deserves commendation on the grounds that he does not usurp any authority for himself but, as one of the common people, waits for the king's pleasure, yet he may be thought to have craftily devised a pretext by which he might circumvent the king. We see what he desired.

Since the land of Goshen was fertile and celebrated for its rich pastures, this advantage so attracted him that he wished to settle his father there. But then, concealing the land's richness from Pharaoh, he offered another reason: namely, that Jacob and his sons were men held in abomination, and therefore, he was seeking a secluded place where they might live apart from the Egyptians.

It is not, however, very difficult to resolve this difficulty. The fertility of the land of Goshen was so fully known to the king that no room was left for fraud or deception (though kings are often too profuse and foolishly waste much because they do not know what they grant). Indeed, Pharaoh, of his own accord, had offered them, unsolicited, the best and choicest place in the kingdom.

Therefore, this bounty of his was not elicited from him by stratagem, because he was free to form his own judgment regarding what he would give.

And indeed, Joseph, so that he might act modestly, felt it necessary to seek a habitation in Goshen on this pretext. For it would have been absurd, or at least inconsiderate, for men who were obscure and strangers to desire an abode in the best and most convenient place for themselves, as if they possessed a right to choose for themselves.

Joseph, therefore, considering his own modesty and that of his father, offers another reason, which was nevertheless a true one. For since the Egyptians held the occupation of shepherds in abhorrence, he explains to the king that this would be a suitable retreat for his brothers. In this, there was no deceit, because in no other place was a quiet habitation accessible to them.

Nevertheless, though it was hard for the holy Fathers to be thus shamefully rejected and, as it were, loathed by a whole nation, yet this ignominy with which they were branded was very beneficial for them.

For, if they had been mixed with the Egyptians, they might have been scattered far and wide. But now, since they are objects of detestation and are considered unworthy of being admitted to common society, they learn, in this state of separation from others, to cherish more fervently mutual union among themselves. Thus the body of the Church, which God had set apart from the whole world, is not dispersed.

So the Lord often permits us to be despised or rejected by the world, so that, being liberated and cleansed from its pollution, we may cultivate holiness. Finally, he does not allow us to be bound by chains to the earth, so that we may be borne upward to heaven.

CHAPTER 47.