- there are 70 faces to 
Post by alon on Sept 9, 2022 13:58:03 GMT -8
This Week’s Readings:
Parashah- Genesis 46:28-47:27
Haftara- Isaiah 19:18-25
D’rash: Coming towards the end of Genesis, we now begin to transition into the Exodus story.
Genesis 46:33-34 When Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’ you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ in order that you may dwell in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.”
Note the difference inGod’s schoolroom and those of Mitzrayim- the occupation of shepherd was considered by Hebrews to be the training ground for kings! It’s unclear why “every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.” This possibly goes back to Egyptian folk etymology of the Hyksos:
“As a word, Hyksos is simply the Greek version of an Egyptian title, Heka Khasut, meaning “rulers of foreign lands/hill countries.” While much is misunderstood, we know the Hyksos comprised a small group of West Asian individuals who ruled Northern Egypt, especially the Delta, during the Second Intermediate Period. These rulers were recorded as Egypt’s 15th dynasty in the Turin Royal Canon, the only known king’s list that documents their existence.
For decades, the writings of the Ptolemaic Egyptian historian, Manetho, influenced the popular and scholarly interpretations of the Hyksos. Preserved in Josephus’s Contra Apionem I, Manetho presented the Hyksos as a barbaric horde, “invaders of an obscure race” who conquered Egypt by force, causing destruction and murdering or enslaving Egyptians. This account continued in Egyptian texts from the Second Intermediate Period and New Kingdom. As Egyptology developed, years of debate over the extent of destruction and the ethnicity of the “Hyksos people” transpired. Only in more recent decades have the Hyksos been revealed as a small group of rulers (we know of six) and not a population or ethnic group.” American Research Center in Egypt
Here we can see how even a “benevolent dictatorship” can be easily falsely portrayed as evil. The Hyksos introduced many innovations in agriculture and warfare which would contribute to the later greatness of Mitzrayim. Things like the horse drawn chariot and better agricultural tools. Yet they were seen by the average Egyptian as an invader; murderers and destroyers of civilization- things history and archaeology have proven false. We will see this same reasoning applied to the Hebrews not much later.
Genesis 47:10 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from the presence of Pharaoh.
Some translations say Ya’aqov “bade farewell,” however the appropriate term would be blessed:
ַויברךְ u·ibarak
and·he-is-blessing
Genesis 47:11-27 (redacted) Then Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. And Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father's household with food, according to the number of their dependents.
Now there was no food in all the land, for the famine was very severe, … And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, in exchange for the grain that they bought. And Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house. And … all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? For our money is gone.” And Joseph answered, “Give your livestock, and I will give you food in exchange for your livestock, … He supplied them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year. And … they came to him the following year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is all spent. The herds of livestock are my lord's. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our land. … Buy us and our land for food, and we with our land will be servants to Pharaoh. And give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate.”
So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for all the Egyptians sold their fields, because the famine was severe on them. The land became Pharaoh's. As for the people, he made servants of them from one end of Egypt to the other. Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had a fixed allowance from Pharaoh and lived on the allowance that Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their land.
Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have this day bought you and your land for Pharaoh. Now here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. And at the harvests you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and as food for yourselves and your households, and as food for your little ones.” And they said, “You have saved our lives; may it please my lord, we will be servants to Pharaoh.” So Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt, and it stands to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth; the land of the priests alone did not become Pharaoh's.
Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen. And they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly.
We see here Yoseph’s astute handling of the famine. But we also see his preferential treatment of his own family as opposed to the Egyptian people. The Hebrews grew stronger and were free while the people of Mitzrayim gradually became impoverished and eventually became enslaved. This must have been a bitter pill to swallow- the man who came to Mitzrayim a slave now rules over them and makes them slaves to Pharaoh.
Freedom is a precious thing, and once lost it is difficult if not impossible to get it back. So the Egyptians will do what people always do, they will look for someone to blame. And they have this readily before them in Yoseph and the Hebrews. What we are witnessing here is the rise of the first instance of anti-Semitism towards the Hebrew people.
We are not told why Yoseph enslaved the Egyptians. It does not sit well with what we know of his character. I suspect he did so at the direction of Pharaoh. Absolute power always craves more power, and what more power for a “god” than to enslave his subjects? But it is not their god-king who will be the face of the theft of their possessions and freedom; it will be this Hebrew vizier and his ever growing family.
However, in all this we may see a type of Yeshua HaMoshiach. Yoseph rose from the pit and saved the Egyptian people to serve Pharaoh, while Yeshua overcame the pit so that we may serve Elohei HaElohim, God of Gods (Deu 10:17).
A recurring theme in Torah is that those who bless Yisroel will be blessed, while those who disparage her will face divine wrath. So we are also witnessing the beginning of the justification of the plagues and other punishment to be inflicted on the Egyptian people. However for a time Mitzrayim was good to Ya’aqov as well as the Hebrews in their midst. And it was because of this the Hebrew people were formed. So Mitzrayim still will hold a place in the heart of Yashar, the Upright One (Is 26:7):
Isaiah 19: 25b “Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.”
Mekorot: All scripture from the ESV unless otherwise specified; JPS Study TNK: American Research Center in Egypt; Scripture for All Interlinear; W Wiersbe; FB Meyer: my father and others
Next Week’s Readings:
Parashah- Gen 47:28-49:26
Haftara- Is 43:1-44:8
* Apostolic references will be given in the darashot
Parashah- Genesis 46:28-47:27
Haftara- Isaiah 19:18-25
D’rash: Coming towards the end of Genesis, we now begin to transition into the Exodus story.
Genesis 46:33-34 When Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’ you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ in order that you may dwell in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.”
Note the difference inGod’s schoolroom and those of Mitzrayim- the occupation of shepherd was considered by Hebrews to be the training ground for kings! It’s unclear why “every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.” This possibly goes back to Egyptian folk etymology of the Hyksos:
“As a word, Hyksos is simply the Greek version of an Egyptian title, Heka Khasut, meaning “rulers of foreign lands/hill countries.” While much is misunderstood, we know the Hyksos comprised a small group of West Asian individuals who ruled Northern Egypt, especially the Delta, during the Second Intermediate Period. These rulers were recorded as Egypt’s 15th dynasty in the Turin Royal Canon, the only known king’s list that documents their existence.
For decades, the writings of the Ptolemaic Egyptian historian, Manetho, influenced the popular and scholarly interpretations of the Hyksos. Preserved in Josephus’s Contra Apionem I, Manetho presented the Hyksos as a barbaric horde, “invaders of an obscure race” who conquered Egypt by force, causing destruction and murdering or enslaving Egyptians. This account continued in Egyptian texts from the Second Intermediate Period and New Kingdom. As Egyptology developed, years of debate over the extent of destruction and the ethnicity of the “Hyksos people” transpired. Only in more recent decades have the Hyksos been revealed as a small group of rulers (we know of six) and not a population or ethnic group.” American Research Center in Egypt
Here we can see how even a “benevolent dictatorship” can be easily falsely portrayed as evil. The Hyksos introduced many innovations in agriculture and warfare which would contribute to the later greatness of Mitzrayim. Things like the horse drawn chariot and better agricultural tools. Yet they were seen by the average Egyptian as an invader; murderers and destroyers of civilization- things history and archaeology have proven false. We will see this same reasoning applied to the Hebrews not much later.
Genesis 47:10 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from the presence of Pharaoh.
Some translations say Ya’aqov “bade farewell,” however the appropriate term would be blessed:
ַויברךְ u·ibarak
and·he-is-blessing
Genesis 47:11-27 (redacted) Then Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. And Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father's household with food, according to the number of their dependents.
Now there was no food in all the land, for the famine was very severe, … And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, in exchange for the grain that they bought. And Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house. And … all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? For our money is gone.” And Joseph answered, “Give your livestock, and I will give you food in exchange for your livestock, … He supplied them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year. And … they came to him the following year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is all spent. The herds of livestock are my lord's. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our land. … Buy us and our land for food, and we with our land will be servants to Pharaoh. And give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate.”
So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for all the Egyptians sold their fields, because the famine was severe on them. The land became Pharaoh's. As for the people, he made servants of them from one end of Egypt to the other. Only the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had a fixed allowance from Pharaoh and lived on the allowance that Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their land.
Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have this day bought you and your land for Pharaoh. Now here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. And at the harvests you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and as food for yourselves and your households, and as food for your little ones.” And they said, “You have saved our lives; may it please my lord, we will be servants to Pharaoh.” So Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt, and it stands to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth; the land of the priests alone did not become Pharaoh's.
Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen. And they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly.
We see here Yoseph’s astute handling of the famine. But we also see his preferential treatment of his own family as opposed to the Egyptian people. The Hebrews grew stronger and were free while the people of Mitzrayim gradually became impoverished and eventually became enslaved. This must have been a bitter pill to swallow- the man who came to Mitzrayim a slave now rules over them and makes them slaves to Pharaoh.
Freedom is a precious thing, and once lost it is difficult if not impossible to get it back. So the Egyptians will do what people always do, they will look for someone to blame. And they have this readily before them in Yoseph and the Hebrews. What we are witnessing here is the rise of the first instance of anti-Semitism towards the Hebrew people.
We are not told why Yoseph enslaved the Egyptians. It does not sit well with what we know of his character. I suspect he did so at the direction of Pharaoh. Absolute power always craves more power, and what more power for a “god” than to enslave his subjects? But it is not their god-king who will be the face of the theft of their possessions and freedom; it will be this Hebrew vizier and his ever growing family.
However, in all this we may see a type of Yeshua HaMoshiach. Yoseph rose from the pit and saved the Egyptian people to serve Pharaoh, while Yeshua overcame the pit so that we may serve Elohei HaElohim, God of Gods (Deu 10:17).
A recurring theme in Torah is that those who bless Yisroel will be blessed, while those who disparage her will face divine wrath. So we are also witnessing the beginning of the justification of the plagues and other punishment to be inflicted on the Egyptian people. However for a time Mitzrayim was good to Ya’aqov as well as the Hebrews in their midst. And it was because of this the Hebrew people were formed. So Mitzrayim still will hold a place in the heart of Yashar, the Upright One (Is 26:7):
Isaiah 19: 25b “Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.”
Mekorot: All scripture from the ESV unless otherwise specified; JPS Study TNK: American Research Center in Egypt; Scripture for All Interlinear; W Wiersbe; FB Meyer: my father and others
Next Week’s Readings:
Parashah- Gen 47:28-49:26
Haftara- Is 43:1-44:8
* Apostolic references will be given in the darashot
