his soul, when he besought us; and we would not hear: therefore is this distress come upon us. And Reuben answered and said, spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child, and ye would not hear? therefore behold, also, his blood is required." And then follows, "They knew not that Joseph understood them: for he spake unto them by an interpreter." Gen. xiii. 19 to 23. Compare Psalm lxxxi. 5. cxiv. 5.-The two-and-twenty years' residence, preparatory to this event, afforded Joseph ample time to be completely conversant and familiar with the Egyptian language: the acquirement of which was to him doubtless a matter of necessity: he was an utter stranger in the land; and, according to our annotators, his first office was of menial employ; but the Lord was with Joseph; and his master, seeing that the Lord was with him, made him overseer over all his house; "And all that he had he put into his hand." The wickedness and fury of a voluptuous and disappointed woman were the occasion of the sudden dismissal of Joseph, and of his being cast into prison. And here we are required to adore the inscrutable ways of Providence: for, notwithstanding the most unpromising appearances which present themselves, and means, which, to us, seem oftentimes the most unfavourable, ends frequently are produced of the utmost, vital consequence. Such exactly was the instance of the affliction of Joseph, of his being sold into Egypt, and finally cast into prison. The truth of this is confirmed from the results which followed; and which were occasioned by the power that enabled him to interpret the dreams of the two men in the prison; and, finally, that of Pharoah, which none of the magicians nor wise men could explain. "And Pharoah said unto Joseph,

"Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art: thou shalt be over my house, and, according unto thy word, shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou. And he gave him to wife Asenath, the daughter of Potiphorah the priest, (or prince,) of On.— And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came; and he called the name of the first-born Menasseh, (that is, forgetting,) for God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house. And the name of the second called he Ephraim, (that is, fruitful,) for God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction." Gen. xli.-From this it may be safely inferred, I think, that the seeds of the Egyptian language were likely to be sown in the soil of that of the Israelites. The rank to which Joseph was raised, and the alliance which he had formed with the daughter of Potiphorah, the Egyptian prince, would naturally cause the language of Egypt to spread and identify itself, in some respects, with the language of the Israelites. It was, moreover, the native language of the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim; and, possibly, was spoken by them and their respective families in an uncorrupted state for 76 years. And what is true of the language of the sons and grandsons of Manasseh, and "Ephraim's children of the third generation," is equally true of Moses and his generation. Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians; Acts vii. 22.; his very name was derived from the Egyptian language; for, according to Bryant and Calmet, Mo, or Mou, was the Egyptian for water. "Moses fled from the face of. Pharoah, and dwelt in the land of Midian :”—a part of Arabia Pitrea, where some of Abraham's posterity, the

sons of his concubines, were settled, whom he separated from Isaac while he lived. "Now the priest or prince of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. And the shepherds came and drove them away: but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock. And when they came to Reuel, their father, he said, how is it that you are come so soon to day? And they said, an EGYPTIAN delivered us out of the hands of the shepherds, and also drew water enough for us, and watered the flock. And he said unto his daughters, and where is he? why is it that ye have left the man? Call him that he may eat bread. And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses Zepporah, his daughter. And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said I have been a stranger in a strange land." Exodus ii. 15, &c.

It may be made a standing observation, says Stackhouse, that the sacred authors do not relate all the particulars of a story, as other authors delight to do, but such only as are most material. We may, therefore, suppose, that a great many things intervened between Moses's entrance into Jero's family, and his marriage to the daughter of Jero: especially, considering that his children were so young at his return into Egypt, after an absence of forty years.† According to Bryant, this

*

The name of the priest of Midian was Jero; so that either Reuel was his name as well as Jero, or else Reuel was the father of Jero, and therefore grandfather of these young women.—Bishop Patrick.

It is usual in Scripture to call the grandfather, father; see Gen. xxiv. 48, where Rebekah is called Abraham's brother's daughter; she was in fact his grand-daughter.--Bishop Kidder-D'Oyly and Munt's Bible.

+ Stackhouse,

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marriage of Moses was contrary to the usage of his forefathers, and of the Hebrews in general: and it seemed to intimate that he thought himself quite alienated from his countrymen: but the writer appears to have forgotten the case of Joseph's marriage with the daughter of Potiphorah, the Egyptian prince, when Joseph forgot all his toil and all his father's house. These marriages, as far as the point in question is concerned, tended, no doubt, to modify and corrupt the language of those descended through Isaac, from the line of Eber: which number, independently of Jacob, Joseph, and his two sons, and Moses, was only three score and six; and before they departed out of Egypt increased to 600,000, inclusive of the mixed multitude which went with them.

On their arrival in Egypt, the Israelites were allowed to dwell in Goshen, and the most active of them were permitted to be rulers of the cattle of Pharaoh. They were exceedingly prone to mix, and imitate the manners of the people, in whatsoever country they sojourned. This may be gathered from their history.

At the end of 124 years after their arrival in Egypt, it brought down upon them the vengeance of Almighty God; when a new king arose, who knew not Joseph, nor the acts which he had performed in Egypt; when taskmasters were placed over the Israelites, and they were afflicted with heavy burdens. Thus, having suffered hard bondage 91 years (which, with the 124 years from the death of Jacob, and 215 from the coming of Abraham out of his native country, make up the 430 mentioned) 600,000 of the Israelites departed on foot out of Egypt: "and a mixed multitude went also with them." That is, as Bishop Patrick explains the passage,

I

there were others besides Israelites; perhaps, they were proselytes, who had renounced idolatry: or they were persons with whom the Israelites were connected by intermarriages. The meaning contained in the last clause seems to be corroborated by the interpretation of Josephus, and approved of by Dr. Shuckford in the passage "every woman" of the Israelites "shall borrow," or rather according to the Hebrew, ask, (ask of any to give.-Harmer, Shuckford)" of her neighbours." The Egyptians made the Hebrews considerable presents: and some did so in order to induce them to go the sooner away from them: others out of respect to, and on account of the acquaintance they had with them. That there was something like mutual sympathy and friendship during one part of the history of the Israelites and Egyptians, may be evidenced in the singular magnificence of the funeral of Jacob. "And Pharaoh said, go up, and bring thy father, according as he made thee swear. And Joseph went up to bury his father: and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt. And all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father's house: only their little ones, and their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen. And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company. And they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a very great and sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father seven days. And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, this is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians, wherefore the name of it was called Abel Mizraim:”