Genesis 46:29

29 Joseph gave orders for his chariot and went to Goshen to meet his father Israel. The moment Joseph saw him, he threw himself on his neck and wept. He wept a long time.

Genesis 46:29 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 46:29

And Joseph made ready his chariot
Or "bound" F25 it, fastened the horses to it, harnessed them, and put them to; this he did not himself, as Jarchi thinks, for the honour of his father; but rather, as Aben Ezra, by ordering his servants to do it:

and went up to meet Israel his father in Goshen;
that being higher than the other part of Egypt, as it must be, if it was in Thebes, or upper Egypt, as some Jewish writers say F26; and Fium, supposed to be the place the Israelites dwelt in, see ( Genesis 47:11 ) , stood very high F1:

and presented himself unto him;
alighted from his chariot, and came up to his father, and stood before him, and showed himself to him, declaring who he was:

and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while:
either Jacob fell on the neck of Joseph, and wept over him a good while before he could speak to him, as the father of the prodigal son fell on his neck and kissed him, ( Luke 15:20 ) ; or, as Jarchi, Joseph fell on his father's neck, as he had done upon his brethren before, but wept over him longer; their embraces were no doubt mutual and extremely affectionate, that for a while they were not able to speak a word to each other.


FOOTNOTES:

F25 (roayw) "et ligavit", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus; "tum alligavit", Schmidt.
F26 Hieron. Quaestion. in Genesim, fol. 72. M. tom. 3.
F1 Leo. African. Descriptio Africae, l. 8. p. 722.

Genesis 46:29 In-Context

27 Counting in the two sons born to Joseph in Egypt, the members of Jacob's family who ended up in Egypt numbered seventy.
28 Jacob sent Judah on ahead to get directions to Goshen from Joseph. When they got to Goshen,
29 Joseph gave orders for his chariot and went to Goshen to meet his father Israel. The moment Joseph saw him, he threw himself on his neck and wept. He wept a long time.
30 Israel said to Joseph, "I'm ready to die. I've looked into your face - you are indeed alive."
31 Joseph then spoke to his brothers and his father's family. "I'll go and tell Pharaoh, 'My brothers and my father's family, all of whom lived in Canaan, have come to me.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.