Genesis 45:8

8 non vestro consilio sed Dei huc voluntate missus sum qui fecit me quasi patrem Pharaonis et dominum universae domus eius ac principem in omni terra Aegypti

Genesis 45:8 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 45:8

So now [it was] not you [that] sent me hither, but God
Which is to be understood not absolutely, as if they had no concern at all in sending him thither; they sold him to the Ishmaelites, who brought him down to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar, and so were instrumental in his coming to Egypt; but comparatively, it was not they so much as God that sent him; whose providence directed, disposed, and overruled all those events, to bring Joseph to this place, and to such an high station, to answer the purposes and designs of God in providing for and preserving Jacob's family in a time of distress:

and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh:
to be a teacher to him, as Aben Ezra, that is, to be his counsellor, to advise him well in all things, as a father his children; or to be his partner and patron, as Jarchi, to have a share with him in power and authority, and to be reckoned as a father to him, see ( Genesis 41:43 ) ; and to provide for him and the welfare of his kingdom, as parents do for their children: the following phrases explain it of rule and government; and the meaning is, that he was a great man, and a prince F19 in Pharaoh's court:

and lord of all his house;
his prime minister, chief counsellor and courtier:

and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt;
to whom all the deputies of the several provinces were subject under Pharaoh, and especially in the affair of the corn.


FOOTNOTES:

F19 So it is interpreted by R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 50. 1.

Genesis 45:8 In-Context

6 biennium est quod fames esse coepit in terra et adhuc quinque anni restant quibus nec arari poterit nec meti
7 praemisitque me Deus ut reservemini super terram et escas ad vivendum habere possitis
8 non vestro consilio sed Dei huc voluntate missus sum qui fecit me quasi patrem Pharaonis et dominum universae domus eius ac principem in omni terra Aegypti
9 festinate et ascendite ad patrem meum et dicetis ei haec mandat filius tuus Ioseph Deus me fecit dominum universae terrae Aegypti descende ad me ne moreris
10 et habita in terra Gessen erisque iuxta me tu et filii tui et filii filiorum tuorum oves tuae et armenta tua et universa quae possides
The Latin Vulgate is in the public domain.