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3,811 commentary entries
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible
Judah's Profligacy. (b. c. 1717.)
JUDAH'S PROFLIGACY. (B. C. 1717.) Here is, 1. Judah's foolish friendship with a Canaanite-man. He went down from his brethren, and withdrew for a time from their society and his father's family, and got to be intimately…
Matthew Henry on Genesis 38:12-23
It is a very ill-favoured story that is here told concerning Judah; one would not have expected such folly in Israel. Judah had buried his wife; and widowers have need to stand upon their guard with the utmost caution a…
Birth of Phares and Zarah. (b. c. 1714.)
BIRTH OF PHARES AND ZARAH. (B. C. 1714.) Here is, I. Judah's rigour against Tamar, when he heard she was an adulteress. She was, in the eye of the law, Shelah's wife, and therefore her being with child by another was lo…
The History of Joseph. (b. c. 1721.)
THE HISTORY OF JOSEPH. (B. C. 1721.) Here is, I. Joseph bought (Genesis 39:1), and he that bought him, whatever he gave for him, had a good bargain of him; it was better than the merchandise of silver. The Jews have a p…
Matthew Henry on Genesis 39:7-12
Here is, I. A most shameful instance of impudence and immodesty in Joseph's mistress, the shame and scandal of her sex, perfectly lost to all virtue and honour, and not to be mentioned, nor thought of, without the utmos…
Matthew Henry on Genesis 39:13-18
Joseph's mistress, having tried in vain to make him a criminal, now endeavours to represent him as one; so to be revenged on him for his virtue. Now was her love turned into the utmost rage and malice, and she pretends…
Matthew Henry on Genesis 39:19-23
Here is, 1. Joseph wronged by his master. He believed the accusation, and either Joseph durst not make his defence by telling the truth, as it would reflect too much upon his mistress, or his master would not hear it, o…
The History of Joseph. (b. c. 1717.)
THE HISTORY OF JOSEPH. (B. C. 1717.) We should not have had this story of Pharaoh's butler and baker recorded in scripture if it had not been serviceable to Joseph's preferment. The world stands for the sake of the chur…
Matthew Henry on Genesis 40:5-19
Observe, I. The special providence of God, which filled the heads of these two prisoners with unusual dreams, such as made extraordinary impressions upon them, and carried with them evidences of a divine origin, both in…
Matthew Henry on Genesis 40:20-23
Here is, 1. The verifying of Joseph's interpretation of the dreams, on the very day prefixed. The chief butler and baker were both advanced, one to his office, the other to the gallows, and both at the three days' end.…
Pharaoh's Portentous Dream. (b. c. 1715.)
PHARAOH'S PORTENTOUS DREAM. (B. C. 1715.) Observe, 1. The delay of Joseph's enlargement. It was not till the end of two full years (Genesis 41:1); so long he waited after he had entrusted the chief butler with his case…
Joseph Brought before Pharaoh. (b. c. 1715.)
JOSEPH BROUGHT BEFORE PHARAOH. (B. C. 1715.) Here is, 1. The recommending of Joseph to Pharaoh for an interpreter. The chief butler did it more in compliment to Pharaoh, to oblige him, than in gratitude to Joseph, or in…
Joseph Interprets Pharaoh's Dream. (b. c. 1715.)
JOSEPH INTERPRETS PHARAOH'S DREAM. (B. C. 1715.) Here, I. Pharaoh relates his dream. He dreamt that he stood upon the bank of the river Nile, and saw the kine, both the fat ones and the lean ones, come out of the river.…
Joseph's Exaltation. (b. c. 1715.)
JOSEPH'S EXALTATION. (B. C. 1715.) Here is, I. The good advice that Joseph gave to Pharaoh, which was, 1. That in the years of plenty he should lay up for the years of famine, buy up corn when it was cheap, that he migh…
The Famine in Egypt and Canaan. (b. c. 1706.)
THE FAMINE IN EGYPT AND CANAAN. (B. C. 1706.) Observe here, I. The building of Joseph's family in the birth of two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, Genesis 41:50-52. In the names he gave them, he owned the divine Providence…
Jacob Sends to Egypt to Buy Corn. (b. c. 1706.)
JACOB SENDS TO EGYPT TO BUY CORN. (B. C. 1706.) Though Jacob's sons were all married, and had families of their own, yet, it should seem, they were still incorporated in one society, under the conduct and presidency of…
Joseph Speaks Roughly to His Brethren. (b. c. 1706.)
JOSEPH SPEAKS ROUGHLY TO HIS BRETHREN. (B. C. 1706.) We may well wonder that Joseph, during the twenty years that he had now been in Egypt, especially during the last seven years that he had been in power there, never s…
Reflections of Joseph's Brethren. (b. c. 1706.)
REFLECTIONS OF JOSEPH'S BRETHREN. (B. C. 1706.) Here is, I. The penitent reflection Joseph's brethren made upon the wrong they had formerly done to him, Genesis 42:21. They talked the matter over in the Hebrew tongue, n…
The Report Made to Jacob. (b. c. 1706.)
THE REPORT MADE TO JACOB. (B. C. 1706.) Here is, 1. The report which Jacob's sons made to their father of the great distress they had been in in Egypt; how they had been suspected, and threatened, and obliged to leave S…
Jacob Unwilling to Part with Benjamin. (b. c. 1707.)
JACOB UNWILLING TO PART WITH BENJAMIN. (B. C. 1707.) Here, 1. Jacob urges his sons to go and buy more corn in Egypt, Genesis 43:1-2. The famine continued; and the corn they had bought was all spent, for it is meat that…
Joseph's Brethren Again Sent to Egypt. (b. c. 1707.)
JOSEPH'S BRETHREN AGAIN SENT TO EGYPT. (B. C. 1707.) Observe here, I. Jacob's persuasibleness. He would be ruled by reason, though they were his inferiors that urged it. He saw the necessity of the case; and, since ther…
Joseph Entertains His Brethren. (b. c. 1707.)
JOSEPH ENTERTAINS HIS BRETHREN. (B. C. 1707.) Jacob's sons, having got leave to take Benjamin with them, were observant of the orders their father had given them, and went down the second time into Egypt to buy corn. If…
Matthew Henry on Genesis 43:26-34
Here is, I. The great respect that Joseph's brethren paid to him. When they brought him the present, they bowed themselves before him (Genesis 43:26); and again, when they gave him an account of their father's health, t…
Joseph's Policy. (b. c. 1707.)
JOSEPH'S POLICY. (B. C. 1707.) Joseph heaps further kindnesses upon his brethren, fills their sacks, returns their money, and sends them away full of gladness; but he also exercises them with further trials. Our God thu…