| Douay RheimsDouay-Rheims Challoner Bible -- The New Testament was published at Rheims (1582), the Old Testament at Douay (1609). The Douay Rheims served as the main English bible for the Catholic world for centuries. Bishop Challoner updated it extensively mid-18th century. Biblical scholar Rev. George Haydock compiled a Catholic commentary mid-19th century. This text set is from an approved 1914 U.S. printing. | Clementine Latin VulgateBiblia Sacra Vulgatæ -- The Clementine Latin Vulgate Bible is an update to Saint Jerome's Latin Vulgate Bible, a foundational Catholic text. It was issued under Pope Sixtus V and authoritatively revised by Pope Clement VIII, hence its name. This 1914 printing starts with the original Clementine text and takes into account variations in prior printings as well as correctoria officially issued by the Vatican. | Haydock CommentaryThis Catholic bible commentary, following the Douay-Rheims Bible text, was originally compiled by Catholic priest and biblical scholar Rev. George Leo Haydock (1774-1849). |
| 1 And Jacob dwelt in the land of Chanaan wherein his father sojourned. | Habitavit autem Iacob in terra Chanaan, in qua pater suus peregrinatus est. | Sojourned at Hebron and the environs. H.
|
| 2 And these are his generations: Joseph, when he was sixteen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren, being but a boy: and he was with the sons of Bala and of Zelpha his father's wives: and he accused his brethren to his father of a most wicked crime. | Et hæ sunt generationes eius: Ioseph cum sedecim esset annorum, pascebat gregem cum fratribus suis adhuc puer: et erat cum filiis Balæ et Zelphæ uxorum patris sui: accusavitque fratres suos apud patrem crimine pessimo. | Generations. This connects his history with C. xxxv. What happened to Jacob and his sons, and particularly to Joseph, forms the subject of the remaining part of Genesis. H. --- Old; complete, or beginning "his 17th year," as the Heb. Chal. and Sept. have it. "He was the son or boy of"---so many years always means the current year unfinished. Bochart 1. R. xiii. 1. --- The sons. Perhaps these were not so much enraged against Joseph, till he told his father of their scandalous behaviour, in order that he might put a stop to it. --- He accused. Some editions of the Sept. read, "they accused him," &c.; but all others confirm the Vulgate and Hebrew. C. --- Crime: perhaps of sodomy, or bestiality (S. Tho.); or of abusive language to Joseph himself. C.
|
| 3 Now Israel loved Joseph above all his sons, because he had him in his old age: and he made him a coat of divers colours. | Israel autem diligebat Ioseph super omnes filios suos, eo quod in senectute genuisset eum: fecitque ei tunicam polymitam. | Old age, and therefore expected to have no more children; but he loved him still more, on account of his innocent and sweet behaviour (M.): in which sense the Sam. Chal. &c. have, "because he was a wise and prudent boy." --- Colours. The nations of the East delight in gaudy attire, "hanging down to the heels" as the original passim is sometimes expressed, talaris & polymita, v. 3. C.
|
| 4 And his brethren seeing that he was loved by his father, more than all his sons, hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him. | Videntes autem fratres eius quod a patre plus cunctis filiis amaretur, oderant eum, nec poterant ei quidquam pacifice loqui. | Could not, through envy, which caused them to notice every little distinction shewn to Joseph. They perceived he was the most beloved. His accusing them, and insinuating by his mysterious dreams that he would be their lord, heightened their rage. H.
|
| 5 Now it fell out also that he told his brethren a dream, that he had dreamed: which occasioned them to hate him the more. | Accidit quoque ut visum somnium referret fratribus suis: quæ causa maioris odii seminarium fuit. | A dream. These dreams of Joseph were prophetical, and sent from God, as were also those which he interpreted, Gen. xl. and xli.; otherwise, generally speaking, the observing of dreams is condemned in the Scripture, as superstitious and sinful. See Deut. xviii. 10. and Eccle. xxxiv. 2. 3.
|
| 6 And he said to them: Hear my dream which I dreamed. | Dixitque ad eos: Audite somnium meum quod vidi: | |
| 7 I thought we were binding sheaves in the field: and my sheaf arose as it were, and stood, and your sheaves standing about, bowed down before my sheaf. | Putabam nos ligare manipulos in agro: et quasi consurgere manipulum meum, et stare, vestrosque manipulos circumstantes adorare manipulum meum. | Sheaf. Joseph probably knew not what this portended, as the prophets were sometimes ignorant of the real purport of their visions. C. --- But it admirably foreshewed the famine, which would bring his brethren to adore him in Egypt. M.
|
| 8 His brethren answered: Shalt thou be our king? or shall we be subject to thy dominion? Therefore this matter of his dreams and words ministered nourishment to their envy and hatred. | Responderunt fratres eius: Numquid rex noster eris? aut subiiciemur ditioni tuæ? Hæc ergo causa somniorum atque sermonum, invidiæ et odii fomitem ministravit. | |
| 9 He dreamed also another dream, which he told his brethren, saying: I saw in a dream, as it were the sun, and the moon, and eleven stars worshipping me. | Aliud quoque vidit somnium, quod narrans fratribus, ait: Vidi per somnium, quasi solem, et lunam, et stellas undecim adorare me. | The sun. This second dream confirmed the truth of the former. Joseph relates it with simplicity, not suspecting the ill will of his brethren: but his father easily perceives what effect the narration would have, and desires him to be more cautious. He even points out the apparent incoherence of the dream, as Rachel, who seemed intended by the moon, was already dead; unless this dream happened before that event. S. Aug. (q. 123) observes, this was never literally verified in Joseph, but it was in Jesus Christ, whom he prefigured. C. --- Some think that Bala, the nurse of Joseph, was intended by the moon. T.
|
| 10 And when he had told this to his father and brethren, his father rebuked him, and said: What meaneth this dream that thou hast dreamed? shall I and thy mother, and thy brethren worship thee upon the earth? | Quod cum patri suo, et fratribus retulisset, increpavit eum pater suus, et dixit: Quid sibi vult hoc somnium quod vidisti? num ego et mater tua, et fratres tui adorabimus te super terram? | Worship. This word is not used here to signify divine worship, but an inferior veneration, expressed by the bowing of the body, and that, according to the manner of the eastern nations, down to the ground.
|
| 11 His brethren therefore envied him: but his father considered the thing with himself. | Invidebant ei igitur fratres sui: pater vero rem tacitus considerabat. | With himself: not doubting but it was prophetical. Thus acted the B. Virgin. C.
|
| 12 And when his brethren abode in Sichem feeding their father's flocks, | Cumque fratres illius in pascendis gregibus patris morarentur in Sichem, | |
| 13 Israel said to him: Thy brethren feed the sheep in Sichem: come, I will send thee to them. And when he answered: | dixit ad eum Israel: Fratres tui pascunt oves in Sichimis: veni, mittam te ad eos. Quo respondente, | In Sichem. About ninety miles off. The town had not probably been as yet rebuilt. Jacob had a field there, and the country was free for any one to feed their flocks. It was customary to drive them to a distance. C.
|
| 14 I am ready: he said to him: Go, and see if all things be well with thy brethren, and the cattle: and bring me word again what is doing. So being sent from the vale of Hebron, he came to Sichem: | Præsto sum, ait ei: Vade, et vide si cuncta prospera sint erga fratres tuos, et pecora: et renuncia mihi quid agatur. Missus de Valle Hebron, venit in Sichem: | Bring me. He was afraid of letting him remain with them, and retained him mostly at home for company, and to protect him from danger.
|
| 15 And a man found him there wandering in the field, and asked what he sought. | invenitque eum vir errantem in agro, et interrogavit quid quæreret. | |
| 16 But he answered: I seek my brethren; tell me where they feed the flocks. | At ille respondit: Fratres meos quæro, indica mihi ubi pascant greges. | My brethren. The man was acquainted with Jacob's family, as he had dwelt in those parts for a long time. H.
|
| 17 And the man said to him: They are departed from this place: for I heard them say: Let us go to Dothain. And Joseph went forward after his brethren, and found them in Dothain. | Dixitque ei vir: Recesserunt de loco isto: audivi autem eos dicentes: Eamus in Dothain. Perrexit ergo Ioseph post fratres suos, et invenit eos in Dothain. | Dothain: twelve miles to the north of Samaria. Euseb.
|
| 18 And when they saw him afar off, before he came nigh them, they thought to kill him. | Qui cum vidissent eum procul, antequam accederet ad eos, cogitaverunt illum occidere: | |
| 19 And said one to another: Behold the dreamer cometh. | et mutuo loquebantur: Ecce somniator venit: | |
| 20 Come, let us kill him, and cast him into some old pit: and we will say: Some evil beast hath devoured him: and then it shall appear what his dreams avail him: | venite, occidamus eum, et mittamus in cisternam veterem: dicemusque: Fera pessima devoravit eum: et tunc apparebit quid illi prosint somnia sua. | Pit: walled around to contain water: Heb. Bur.Bar means a well that has no walls. M. --- Shall appear. They resolve to tell a lie, and easily believe that Joseph had been as bad as themselves in telling one first. If they had believed the dreams were from God, they would hardly have supposed that they could prevent them from having their effect. H.
|
| 21 And Ruben hearing this, endeavoured to deliver him out of their hands, and said: | Audiens autem hoc Ruben, nitebatur liberare eum de manibus eorum, et dicebat: | |
| 22 Do not take away his life, nor shed his blood: but cast him into this pit, that is in the wilderness, and keep your hands harmless: now he said this, being desirous to deliver him out of their hands and to restore him to his father. | Non interficiatis animam eius, nec effundatis sanguinem: sed proiicite eum in cisternam hanc, quæ est in solitudine, manusque vestras servate innoxias: hoc autem dicebat, volens eripere eum de manibus eorum, et reddere patri suo. | His father. Ruben wished to regain his father's favour. C. xxxv. 22.
|
| 23 And as soon as he came to his brethren, they forthwith stript him of his outside coat, that was of divers colours: | Confestim igitur ut pervenit ad fratres suos, nudaverunt eum tunica talari, et polymita: | |
| 24 And cast him into an old pit, where there was no water. | miseruntque eum in cisternam veterem, quæ non habebat aquam. | |
| 25 And sitting down to eat bread, they saw some Ismaelites on their way coming from Galaad, with their camels, carrying spices, and balm, and myrrh to Egypt. | Et sedentes ut comederent panem, viderunt Ismaelitas viatores venire de Galaad, et camelos eorum portantes aromata, et resinam, et stacten in Ægyptum. | To eat bread. How could they do this while their innocent brother was praying and lamenting! C. xlii. 21. H. --- Some: a caravan of merchants. D. --- Balm, or rosin; "That of Syria resembles attic honey." Plin. --- Myrrh, (stacten); Heb. Lot: "drops of myrrh or laudanum, or of the Lotus tree." C.
|
| 26 And Juda said to his brethren: What will it profit us to kill our brother, and conceal his blood? | Dixit ergo Iudas fratribus suis: Quid nobis prodest si occiderimus fratrem nostrum, et celaverimus sanguinem ipsius? | |
| 27 It is better that he be sold to the Ismaelites, and that our hands be not defiled: for he is our brother and our flesh. His brethren agreed to his words. | Melius est ut venundetur Ismaelitis, et manus nostræ non polluantur: frater enim, et caro nostra est. Acquieverunt fratres sermonibus illius. | |
| 28 And when the Madianite merchants passed by, they drew him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ismaelites, for twenty pieces of silver: and they led him into Egypt. | Et prætereuntibus Madianitis negotiatoribus, extrahentes eum de cisterna, vendiderunt eum Ismaelitis, viginti argenteis: qui duxerunt eum in Ægyptum. | Of silver. Some have read, thirty pieces of gold or silver. S. Amb. c. 3. --- The price was trifling: twenty sicles would be about £2 5s. 7½d. English. The Madianites and Ismaelites jointly purchased Joseph. H.
|
| 29 And Ruben, returning to the pit, found not the boy: | Reversusque Ruben ad cisternam, non invenit puerum: | Ruben, who, in the mean time had been absent while his brethren hearkened to the proposal of Juda only, and therefore consented to this evil. H.
|
| 30 And rending his garments he went to his brethren, and said: The boy doth not appear and whither shall I go? | et scissis vestibus pergens ad fratres suos, ait: Puer non comparet, et ego quo ibo? | I go to seek for him. His brethren inform him of what they had done, and he consents to keep it a secret from his father. M.
|
| 31 And they took his coat, and dipped it in the blood of a kid, which they had killed: | Tulerunt autem tunicam eius, et in sanguine hœdi, quem occiderant, tinxerunt: | |
| 32 Sending some to carry it to their father, and to say: This we have found: see whether it be thy son's coat, or not. | mittentes qui ferrent ad patrem, et dicerent: Hanc invenimus: vide utrum tunica filii tui sit, an non. | |
| 33 And the father acknowledging it, said: It is my son's coat, an evil wild beast hath eaten him, a beast hath devoured Joseph. | Quam cum agnovisset pater, ait: Tunica filii mei est, fera pessima comedit eum, bestia devoravit Ioseph. | A beast. So he might reasonably conclude from the blood, and from the insinuations of the messengers sent by his ten sons, (H.) whom he would not suspect of so heinous a crime. Wild beasts infested that country. M.
|
| 34 And tearing his garments, he put on sackcloth, mourning for his son a long time. | Scissisque vestibus, indutus est cilicio, lugens filium suum multo tempore. | Sack-cloth, or hair-cloth, cilicio. These garments were made very close, like a sack, of the hair taken from the goats of Cilicia, which grew long, rough, and of a dark colour. The poorest people used them: Usum in Castrorum & miseris velamina nautis, (Virg. Geor. 3.); and the Ascetics, or monks, afterwards chose them for the sake of mortification and humility. C. --- Jacob was the first, mentioned in Scripture, who put them on, and the Israelites imitated him in their mourning. --- Long time; twenty-three years, till he heard of his son being still alive. M.
|
| 35 And all his children being gathered together to comfort their father in his sorrow, he would not receive comfort, but said: I will go down to my son into hell, mourning. And whilst he continued weeping, | Congregatis autem cunctis liberis eius ut lenirent dolorem patris, noluit consolationem accipere, sed ait: Descendam ad filium meum lugens in infernum. Et illo perseverante in fletu, | Into hell; that is, into limbo, the place where the souls of the just were received before the death of our Redeemer. For allowing that the word hell sometimes is taken for the grave, it cannot be so taken in this place; since Jacob did not believe his son to be in the grave, (whom he supposed to be devoured by a wild beast) and therefore could not mean to go down to him thither: but certainly meant the place of rest, where he believed his soul to be. Ch. --- Soal, or sheol, to crave, denotes the receptacle of the dead, (Leigh) or a lower region; the grave for the body; limbo, or hell, when speaking of the soul. See Delrio, Adag. in 2 Kings, p. 209. H. --- Protestants here translate it, "the grave," being unwilling to admit a third place in the other world for the soul. See the contrary in S. Aug. ep. 99. ad Evod. de C. D. xx. 15. W.
|
| 36 The Madianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Putiphar, an eunuch of Pharao, captain of the soldiers. | Madianitæ vendiderunt Ioseph in Ægypto Putiphari eunucho Pharaonis magistro militum. |
An eunuch.
This word sometimes signifies a
chamberlain, courtier,
or
officer
of the king: and so it is taken in this place. Ch. ---
Soldiers,
cooks, or butchers. Hebrew
tabachim,
executioners,
mactantium.
He might also be chief sacrificer, governor of the prisons, &c. all these employments were anciently very honourable. Dan. ii. 14. The providence of God never shines more brightly in any part of the Scripture, than in this history of Joseph, except in that of Jesus Christ, of whom Joseph was a beautiful figure. He was born when his father was grown old, as Jesus was in the last age of the world; he was
a son increasing,
as Jesus
waxed in age and grace before God and men;
both were beloved by their father, both comely, &c. C.
|
