Chapter 48:
| Calvin
| Darby
| Geneva
| Gill
| Jamieson Faussett Brown
| Matthew Henry
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Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 Revelation Exodus
Genesis 48
Concise Complete
Joseph visits his dying father. (1-7) Jacob blesses
Joseph's sons. (8-22)
Verses 1-7 The
death-beds of believers, with the prayers and counsels of dying persons, are
suited to make serious impressions upon the young, the gay, and the prosperous:
we shall do well to take children on such occasions, when it can be done
properly. If the Lord please, it is very desirable to bear our dying testimony
to his truth, to his faithfulness, and the pleasantness of his ways. And one
would wish so to live, as to give energy and weight to our dying exhortations.
All true believers are blessed at their death, but all do not depart equally
full of spiritual consolations. Jacob adopted Joseph's two sons. Let them not
succeed their father, in his power and grandeur in Egypt; but let them succeed
in the inheritance of the promise made to Abraham. Thus the aged dying patriarch
teaches these young persons to take their lot with the people of God. He
appoints each of them to be the head of a tribe. Those are worthy of double
honour, who, through God's grace, break through the temptations of worldly
wealth and preferment, to embrace religion in disgrace and poverty. Jacob will
have Ephraim and Manasseh to know, that it is better to be low, and in the
church, than high, and out of it.
Verses 8-22 The
two good men own God in their comforts. Joseph says, They are my sons whom God
has given me. Jacob says, God hath showed me thy seed. Comforts are doubly sweet
to us when we see them coming from God's hand. He not only prevents our fears,
but exceeds our hopes. Jacob mentions the care the Divine providence had taken
of him all his days. A great deal of hardship he had known in his time, but God
kept him from the evil of his troubles. Now he was dying, he looked upon himself
as redeemed from all sin and sorrow for ever. Christ, the Angel of the covenant,
redeems from all evil. Deliverances from misery and dangers, by the Divine
power, coming through the ransom of the blood of Christ, in Scripture are often
called redemption. In blessing Joseph's sons, Jacob crossed hands. Joseph was
willing to support his first-born, and would have removed his father's hands.
But Jacob acted neither by mistake, nor from a partial affection to one more
than the other; but from a spirit of prophecy, and by the Divine counsel. God,
in bestowing blessings upon his people, gives more to some than to others, more
gifts, graces, and comforts, and more of the good things of this life. He often
gives most to those that are least likely. He chooses the weak things of the
world; he raises the poor out of the dust. Grace observes not the order of
nature, nor does God prefer those whom we think fittest to be preferred, but as
it pleases him. How poor are they who have no riches but those of this world!
How miserable is a death-bed to those who have no well-grounded hope of good,
but dreadful apprehensions of evil, and nothing but evil for ever!
Chapter 48:
| Calvin
| Darby
| Geneva
| Gill
| Jamieson Faussett Brown
| Matthew Henry
| Matthew Henry Concise
| Wesley
| Index
| Bible Gateway |
Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 Revelation Exodus
Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
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Ruth
1 Samuel
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1 Kings
2 Kings
1 Chronicles
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Esther
Job
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Ezekiel
Daniel
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1 Corinthians
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1 Thessalonians
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1 Timothy
2 Timothy
Titus
Philemon
Hebrews
James
1 Peter
2 Peter
1 John
2 John
3 John
Jude
Revelation
