Genesis 46:4

Gen 46:4 I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up [again]: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.

Ver. 4. I will go down with thee.] That was as good security as could be. For if Caesar could say to the fearful ferryman, in a terrible storm, Be of good cheer, thou carriest Caesar, and therefore canst not miscarry; {a} how much more may he presume to be safe that hath God in his company! A child in the dark fears nothing while he hath his father by the hand.

And I will also surely bring thee up again.] So saith God to his dying people when they are to enter into the grave. He will surely bring them back from the jaws of death to the joys of eternal life. Yea, by rotting, he will refine their frail bodies; as the goldsmith melts a picture of gold, or bruised piece of plate that is out of fashion, to make it up better.

And Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.] An ancient and an honourable custom, in use among the Romans also, as Pliny tells us. The eyes are commonly open, lift up to heaven, when men are dying; unless they be such as that pope was, who, breathing out his last, said, Now I shall know whether the soul be immortal, or not. {b} Or that desperate advocate in the court of Rome, mentioned by Bellarmine, who, dying, used these words, Ego propero ad inferos, neque est, ut aliquid pro me agat Deus. But Jacob had hope in his death; and Joseph had the honour of closing up those eyes, that shall shortly "see God" again "in the flesh." {Job 19:26}

{a} Perge contra tempestatem forti animo: Caesarem fers, et fortunam Caesaris.

{b} Sic Benedic. IX, Alexander VI, and Leo X. - Bell., De Arte Moriendi, lib. ii. cap. 10.

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.

Gen 46:4. I will go down with thee into Egypt — Those that go where God sends them shall certainly have God with them. And I will surely bring thee up again — Though Jacob died in Egypt, yet this promise was fulfilled. 1st, In the bringing up of his body to be buried in Canaan. 2d, In the bringing up of his seed to be settled in Canaan. Whatever low and darksome valley we are called into, we may be confident, if God go down with us, he will surely bring us up again. If he go with us down to death, he will surely bring us up again to glory. And Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes — This is a promise that Joseph should live as long as he lived, that he should be with him at his death, and close his eyes with all possible tenderness. Probably Jacob, in the multitude of his thoughts within him, had been wishing that Joseph might do this last office of love for him; and God thus answered him in the letter of his desire. Thus God sometimes gratifies the innocent wishes of his people, and makes not only their death happy, but the very circumstances of it agreeable.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

46:4 You will die: He would have a peaceful death, surrounded by his family and many blessings from God (49:33).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Conducting thee by my power.

In thy posterity.

Shall shut thine eyes when thou diest: which appertained to him that was most dearest, or chief of the kindred.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

I will also surely bring thee up again--As Jacob could not expect to live till the former promise was realized, he must have seen that the latter was to be accomplished only to his posterity. To himself it was literally verified in the removal of his remains to Canaan; but, in the large and liberal sense of the words, it was made good only on the establishment of Israel in the land of promise.

Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes--shall perform the last office of filial piety; and this implied that he should henceforth enjoy, without interruption, the society of that favorite son.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

4. And Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes. This clause was added for the sake of showing greater indulgence. For though Jacob, in desiring that, when he died, his eyes should be closed by the hand of Joseph, showed that some infirmity of the flesh was involved in the wish; yet God is willing to comply with it, for the sake of moderating the grief of a fresh banishment. Moreover, we know that the custom of closing the eyes was of the greatest antiquity; and that this office was discharged by one most closely connected with the deceased either by blood or affection.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(4) Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.—Both among the Jews and Greeks it was the duty of those nearest in blood to close the eyes of a deceased relative. The promise conveyed the assurance that Jacob would die peacefully, surrounded by his friends. For the fulfilment see Gen_1:1.

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

4. I will go down] The promise of the Divine presence is the assurance of safety and blessing. God is no mere local god of Canaan. He will be with His people, where they are; whether in Mesopotamia (Gen_31:13), in Palestine (Gen_35:3), or in Egypt.

bring thee up again] i.e. from Egypt back into Canaan. The pronoun “thee” must surely be understood of the people descended from, and personified by, Jacob, and identified with his name. It does not predict his burial in Canaanite land. The words may best be illustrated from Gen_50:24, and not from Gen_50:13. They foretell the Exodus of the Israelites, not the burial of Jacob.

put his hand … eyes] The last tender office performed by the nearest relative. The promise is fulfilled; see Gen_50:1.

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.

I will go down with thee into Egypt,.... Which was enough to silence all his fears; for if the presence of God went with him to protect and defend hide, to bless and prosper him, and to direct, support, and comfort, he had nothing to fear from any quarter:

and I will also surely bring thee up again: Jarchi takes this to be a promise that he should be buried in the land of Canaan, which had its fulfilment, when his corpse was carried out of Egypt to Machpelah, and there interred; but rather this refers to the bringing up of his posterity from thence in due time, for which Jacob might be most solicitous, and so the Targum of Jonathan,"and I will bring up thy children from thence:"

and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes: and so close them when he was dead; this, as Aben Ezra says, was a custom of the living to the dead, and it used to be done by the nearest relations and friends, though now with us commonly by strangers, or those that are not akin: this was a custom among the Greeks and Romans, as appears from Homer (o), Virgil (p), Ovid (q), and other writers (r); and so, among the Jews, Tobias is said to shut the eyes of his wife's father and mother, and to bury them honourably,"Where he became old with honour, and he buried his father and mother in law honourably, and he inherited their substance, and his father Tobit's.'' (Tobit 14:13)Of the Vulgate Latin version: Maimonides (s) reckons this of closing the eyes of the dead, among the rites used towards them, and so in the Talmud (t): now by this expression Jacob was assured that Joseph was alive, and that he should live to see him, and that Joseph would outlive him, and do this last office for him; and, as Ben Melech observes, by this he had the good news told him that Joseph should remain behind him, to sustain and support his sons, and his sons' sons, all the years that he should live after him.

(o) Odyss. 11. (p) Aeneid. l. 9. (q) Trist. l. 1. Eleg. 2. (r) Vid. Kirchman, de Funer. Rom. l. 1. c. 6. & Kipping. Rom. Antiqu. l. 4. c. 6. (s) Hilchot Ebel, l. 4. sect. 1. (t) T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 151. 2.

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

Thence; in thy posterity. Septuagint add at last, or after a long time. Jacob’s bones were brought back and buried in Chanaan. (Calmet) --- Eyes, as he is the most dear to thee. Parents closed the eyes of their children in death. The Romans opened them again when the corpse was upon the funeral pire; thinking it a mark of disrespect for the eyes to be shut to heaven; "ut neque ab homine supremum eos spectari fas sit, & cœlo non ostendi, nefas." (Pliny, xi. 37.)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

I will bring thee up again, though not in thy person, yet in thy body, Gen 47:29-30; 50:5,13; and in thy posterity, which are a part of thyself, or thyself multiplied.

Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes; shall close thy eyes; which office was usually performed by the nearest and dearest relations of the dying party among the Jews, Greeks, and Romans. Hereby Jacob is assured that he should die in peace, and that Joseph both now was alive, and should survive his father.

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

4. I will go down with thee into Egypt — And if God be with us, who can be against us?

And I will also surely bring thee up — “Wonderfully worded promise! Personally, he was then bidding those scenes an everlasting farewell; but in the mediatorial nation which was to spring from him, and with which, as heir of God’s covenant, he was identified, he would return again. In this hope, by faith, he was to be glad though he die in Egypt, for it is added immediately, Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes, to close them in death; the last sad duty of love. Ancient writers of other nations frequently make pathetic allusion to this last ministration of affection. (Compare Homer’s Iliad, 11:453; Odyssey, 11:426; 24:296; Ovid, Heroides, 1:102, etc.”) — Newhall.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I will go down with thee into Egypt; not a proof that the Hebrews believed.in a local deity following them when they changed their abodes, and confined to the district in which they happened for tire time being to reside (Tuch, Bohlen), but simply a metaphorical expression for the efficiency and completeness of the Divine protection (Kalisch)and I will also surely bring thee up again (literally, and I will bring thee up also, bringing thee up; a double emphasis lying in the use of the infinitive absolute, with preceding, as in Gen_31:15, meaning that God would assuredly recover his body for interment in Canaan should he die in Egypt, and his descendants for settlement in the land of their inheritance): and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes i.e. will perform for thee the last offices of affection by closing thine eyes in death, a service upon which the human heart in all ages and countries has set the highest value (vide Homer, " I1." 11. 453; "Odys.," 24:294; Virg., "AEn.," 9:487; Ovid, " Epist.," 1:162). "A father at the point of death is always very desirous that his wife, children, and grandchildren should be with him. Should there be one at a distance, he will be immediately sent for, and until he arrive the father will mourn and complain, "My son, will you not come? I cannot die without you." When he arrives, he will take the hands of his son, and kiss them, and place them on his eyes, his face, and mouth, and say, " Now I die. (Roberts" "Oriental Illustrations," p. 52).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I will go down with thee into Egypt - Those that go where God sends them shall certainly have God with them. And I will surely bring thee up again - Tho' Jacob died in Egypt, yet this promise was fulfilled,

1. In the bringing up of his body to be buried in Canaan.

2. In the bringing up of his seed to be settled in Canaan. Whatever low and darksome valley we are called into, we may be confident if God go down with us, he will surely bring us up again. If he go with us down to death, he will surely bring us up again to glory. And Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes - That is a promise that Joseph should live as long as he lived, that he should be with him at his death, and close his eyes with all possible tenderness. Probably Jacob, in the multitude of his thoughts within him, had been wishing that Joseph might do this last office of love for him; and God thus answered him in the letter of his desire. Thus God sometimes gratifies the innocent wishes of his people, and makes not only their death happy, but the very circumstances of it agreeable.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

ואנכי אעלך AND I MYSELF WILL ALSO SURELY BRING THEE UP AGAIN — Here He promised him that he would be buried in the Holy Land (Talmud Yerushalmi Sotah 1:10).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

אנכי ארד עמך, the meaning of these words is that you will not suffer a mishap on the way to Egypt.

ואנכי אעלך, as we explained already on the preceding verse. Another possible explanation: the words refer to the person of Yaakov himself, G’d promising that He would be with him on his way to burial in the land of Canaan. The reason G’d added the words: גם עלה would then be a reference to his children who would carry him from Egypt to Canaan to be buried there.

ויוסף ישית ידו על עיניך, we see that this promise was fulfilled in 50,1 when the Torah reports ויפול יוסף על פני אביו, “that Joseph fell on the face of his father.” The promise mentioned here included the fact that after Yaakov’s death Joseph would look after the economic requirements of the brothers and their families. [presumably based on Yaakov’s knowledge that the famine would start again after his death. Ed.]

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.