Genesis 45:7

Gen 45:7 And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

Ver. 7. God sent me before you.] He it is that by a powerful providence orders all the disorders of the world, by a certain counsel, to his own ends, and at length to his own glory. The hands that nailed Christ to the cross were "wicked hands." {Act 2:23} And Judas was sent to "his own place," for being "guide to them that took Jesus." {Act 1:16} And yet they did no more than what "God’s hand and counsel determined before to be done" {Act 4:28} for his glory, and the salvation of his elect. This Pliny derides as a strange doctrine, {a} but Plato hammers at it, when he saith, that God doth always φεωμετρειν. Indeed he doth all, in number, weight, and measure, as the wise man saith. He alters the property of his people’s afflictions, and by an almighty alchemy turns dross to gold, &c. As a skilful apothecary, he makes of a poisoness viper a wholesome antidote.

{a} Irridendum vero curam agere rerum humanarum illud quicquid est summum. - Plin., lib. ii. cap. 7.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(7) To preserve you a posterity in the earth.—Heb., To put for you a remnant in the land, that is, to preserve a remainder for you, as the word is translated in 2Sa_14:7. During the seven years’ famine many races probably dwindled away, and the Hebrews, as mere sojourners in Canaan, would have been in danger of total extinction.

By a great deliverance.—That is, by a signal interference on your behalf. But the word rendered “deliverance,” more exactly signifies that which escapes (see 2Ki_19:31, where, as here, it is joined with the word remnant, and 2Ki_19:30, where it is itself rendered remnant). The two nouns really signify the same thing; but whereas in the first clause the words seem to forebode that only few would escape, in the second there is the assurance of their surviving in such numbers as to be able to grow into a great nation.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7. to preserve you a remnant] Lit. “to set for you a remnant,” i.e. descendants; cf. Jer_44:7.

by a great deliverance] R.V. marg. to be a great company that escape. The two clauses are very nearly identical. In the first the emphasis is on the fact of survival; in the second, on the act of preservation.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And God sent me before you,.... This he repeats to impress the minds of his brethren with a sense of the good providence of God in bringing him to Egypt before them, to make provision for their future welfare, and to alleviate their grief, and prevent an excessive sorrow for their selling him into Egypt, when by the overruling hand of God it proved so salutary to them:

to preserve you a posterity in the earth; that they and theirs might not perish, which otherwise, in all human probability, must have been the case; and that the promise of the multiplication of Abraham's seed might not be made of none effect, but continue to take place, from whence the Messiah was to spring:

and to save your lives by a great deliverance; from the extreme danger they were exposed unto, through the terrible famine, and in which deliverance were to be observed the great wisdom, goodness, power, and providence of God.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

That you and your children might be sustained and preserved in this time of famine, and afterwards abundantly multiplied, as God hath promised.

By a great deliverance, or, for a great remnant, or escaping, i.e. that you who are now but a handful, escaping this danger, may grow into a vast multitude. The word evasion, or escaping, is here put for the persons that do escape, as it is 2Ch 30:6; Isa 10:20; and as captivity is oft put for the captives, as it is Num 21:1; Deu 21:10. And so what was said in the former clause is repeated in this with all emphatical addition.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

preserve Heb. to make you a remnant. Isa 1:9; Rom 11:5. (See Scofield "Rom 11:5").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

to preserve you as a remnant in the earth

"so that you and your families would not completely perish from the earth" or "to make sure your descendants would survive"

to keep you alive by a great deliverance

The abstract noun "deliverance" can be stated as "rescuing." AT: "to keep you alive by rescuing you in a mighty way" (See: Abstract Nouns)

he has made me a father to Pharaoh

Joseph advising and helping Pharaoh is spoken of as if Joseph were Pharaoh's father. AT: "he has made me a guide to Pharaoh" or "he has made me the chief adviser to Pharaoh" (See: Metaphor)

of all his house

Here "house" stands for the people who live in his palace. AT: "of all his household" or "of all his palace" (See: Metonymy)

ruler of all the land of Egypt

Here "land" stands for the people. AT: "ruler over all the people of Egypt" (See: Metonymy)

ruler

Here Joseph means that he is ruler in second place to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. This understood information can be made clear. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

translationWords

remnant

ancestor

Pharaoh

lord

house

rule

Egypt

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.