Genesis Part 071

The Adam Clarke’s commentary says the following about the land settled by Jacob: “The land of Goshen, called also the land of Rameses, lay east of the Nile, by which it was never overflowed, and was bounded by the mountains of the Thebaid on the south, by the Nile and Mediterranean on the west and north, and by the Red Sea and desert of Arabia on the east. It was the Heliopolitan Nome or district, and its capital was called On. Its proper name was Geshen, the country of grass or pasturage, or of the shepherds, in opposition to the rest of the land which was sown after having been overflowed by the Nile.”   

As this land was both fruitful and pleasant, Joseph wished to fix his family in that part of Egypt, and he advised them to tell Pharaoh that their trade had been in cattle from their youth. Because shepherds are an abomination to the Egyptians, he concluded that it would be easier to get them a quiet settlement in Goshen. The separation from the Egyptians would allow them to practice their religious customs freely. 

The John Gill commentary states, “That was their occupation and employment, by which they got their livelihood. Joseph was not ashamed of the business his father and brethren followed, even though mean; and besides, such men were an abomination to the Egyptians: this he thought proper to tell Pharaoh, lest he should think of putting them into some offices of the court or army, which would expose them to the envy of the Egyptians, and might endanger the corruption of their religion and manners, as well as be the means of separating them one from another, which he was careful to guard against” Here again we read commentary about “every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.” There are various answers as to why this may be. Here are some thoughts on that topic from Adam Clarke’s commentary: “Three reasons may be assigned for this: 

1. Shepherds and feeders of cattle were usually a sort of lawless, free-booting bandits, frequently making inroads on villages, etc., carrying off cattle, and whatever spoils they could find. This might probably have been the case formerly, for it is well known it has often been the case since. On this account, such persons must have been universally detested. 
2. They must have abhorred shepherds if Manetho’s account of the Hycsos or king-shepherds can be credited. Hordes of marauders under this name, from Arabia, Syria, and Ethiopia, (whose chief occupation, like the Bedouin Arabs of the present day, was to keep flocks), made a powerful irruption into Egypt, which they subdued and ruled with great tyranny for 259 years. Now, though they had been expelled from that land some considerable time before this, yet their name, and all persons of a similar occupation, were execrated by the Egyptians, on account of the depredations and long-continued ravages they had committed in the country. 
3. The last and probably the best reason why the Egyptians abhorred such shepherds as the Israelites were, was, they sacrificed those very animals, the ox particularly, and the sheep, which the Egyptians held sacred. Hence the Roman historian Tacitus, speaking of the Jews, says: “Caeso Ariete velut in contumelia Ammonis; Bos quoque immolatur, quem Aegyptii Apim colunt.” “They sacrifice the ram in order to insult Jupiter Ammon, and they sacrifice the ox, which the Egyptians worship under the name of Apis.”  

While Adam Clarke appears to lean toward the third explanation, John Gill’s commentary believes that’s not the case: “not because shepherds ate of the milk and flesh of the creatures they fed, which the Egyptians abstained from, for the Egyptians in those times did eat the flesh of slain beasts (see Genesis 43:16), nor because they fed, and slew, and ate those creatures, which the Egyptians worshipped as gods, for it does not appear that the Egyptians were so early worshippers of such creatures; nor is this phrase, ‘every shepherd,’ to be understood of any other than foreign shepherds; for one of the three sorts of the people of Egypt, as distinct from, and under the king, priests, and soldiers, were shepherds, and were not despised on that account; for, as the same writer says, all the Egyptians were reckoned equally noble and honorable; and such it is plain there were in Egypt, in the times of Joseph (see Genesis 47:6), and goat herds were held in esteem and honor by those about Mendes, though swine herds were not: wherefore this must be understood of foreign shepherds, the Egyptians having been greatly distressed by such, who either came out of Ethiopia, and lived by plunder and robbery or out of Phoenicia or Arabia; for, according to Manetho, it was said that they were Arabians or Phoenicians who entered into Egypt, burnt their cities, and set up kings of their own, called their Hycsi, or pastor kings: and therefore Joseph might rather fear his brethren and father's family would be the more contemptible in that they came from Canaan, which was near to Arabia and Phoenicia; but Dr. Lightfoot is of opinion, that the Egyptians, being plagued for Abraham's and Sarah's sake, made a law, that for the future none should converse with Hebrews, nor with foreign shepherds, so familiarly as to eat or drink with them.” 

We will end with an excerpt from the book The Divine Legation of Moses.  In this book, by the 18th-century English theologian William Warburton, he writes the following observation on this chapter: “The promise God made to Abraham, to give his posterity the land of Canaan, could not be performed till that family was grown strong enough to take and keep possession of it. In the meantime, therefore, they were necessitated to reside among idolaters, and to reside unmixed; but whoever examines their history will see that the Israelites had a violent propensity to join themselves to Gentile nations and practice their manners. God, therefore, in his infinite wisdom, brought them into Egypt, and kept them there during this period, the only place where they could remain for so long a time safe and unconfounded with the natives, the ancient Egyptians being by numerous institutions forbidden all fellowship with strangers, and bearing besides a particular aversion to the profession of the Israelites, who were shepherds. Thus, the natural dispositions of the Israelites, which in Egypt occasioned their superstitions, and in consequence the necessity of a burdensome ritual, would in any other country have absorbed them into Gentilism, and confounded them with idolaters.” 

While this is speculation, of course, it may reflect a partial reason why God chose to work in this way. He incubated a nation in the protected confines of a generous land, His divine protection, and resistance to intermingling, until the time was right to bring them out of the land of Goshen and establish them in the land He had promised them. 

UYA Team | uya@ucg.org  

United Young Adults (UYA) primarily serves the 18–32-year age group for the United Church of God. There are three main areas of contribution to the lives of the young adults: Promoting Spiritual Growth, Developing Meaningful Relationships, and Making the Most of Your Talents. The Know Your Sword series is a daily expository message introducing God’s Word from a trusted perspective.