Today's Quick Word
Today’s Quick Word
Genesis 46:33-4 When Pharaoh calls you in and asks, ‘What is your occupation?’ you should answer, ‘Your servants have tended livestock from our boyhood on, just as our fathers did.’ Then you […]
Genesis 46:33-4 When Pharaoh calls you in and asks, ‘What is your occupation?’ you should answer, ‘Your servants have tended livestock from our boyhood on, just as our fathers did.’ Then you will be allowed to settle in the region of Goshen, for all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians.
I feel I should comment on these verses because they have always been a puzzle to me and I had to search through many commentaries on the internet before the proverbial ‘penny’ finally ‘dropped’. If none of you has shared this confusion please bear with me while I display my ignorance, in case there may be one or two who also shared my confusion.
My problem was that I always understood Joseph as telling his brothers to answer Pharaoh: “Your servants have tended livestock [ie been cattlemen as opposed to sheepherders] from our boyhood on, just as our fathers did. … … for all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians.” In other words, I thought Joseph was telling them to tell lies to protect themselves – to say they were shepherds not cattle people. (Even as I write this I realise you are probably wondering how I could have been so dense. But as I read the commentaries I couldn’t see how the brothers were being commended for their honesty rather than trying to protect themselves. ‘What is honest about claiming to be cattle people when you’re actually shepherds?’)
The truth, however, is that the word for ‘livestock’ (‘miqneh’) covers sheep as well as cows, goats and everything else in the farmyard, so by saying they were ‘men’ of the ‘miqneh’ they were including the confession of being ‘shepherds’ [‘ra’ah’] and therefore being an abomination to the Egyptians. So, instead of saying “We are ‘men of the miqneh’ and not ‘ra’ah’”, as I had always thought, they were actually sayng, “We are ‘men of the miqneh and are therefore also ‘ra’ah’, making us an abomination to you Egyptians”.
All this made it appropriate for Pharaoh to isolate them in Goshen – a part of Egypt with excellent pastures, as well as being closer to Canaan in preparation for what would happen in 430 years time! So, yes, honesty is the best policy, and we can always trust our Sovereign God to deal with any possible threatening consequences.
– Bruce Christian
