And Joseph made haste; for his bowels did yearn upon his brother: and he sought where to weep; and he entered into his chamber, and wept there.
Joseph said, Set on bread - equivalent to-have dinner served, bread being a term inclusive of all food. The table was a small stool, most probably in the usual round form, 'since persons might even then be seated according to their rank or seniority; and the modern Egyptian table is not without its post of honour and a fixed gradation of place' (Wilkinson). Two, or at most three persons were seated at one table. But the host being the highest in rank of the company, had a table to himself; whilst it was so arranged that an Egyptian was not placed nor obliged to eat from the same dish as a Hebrew.
For that is an abomination. The Hebrews used for food male kine which the Egyptians universally sacrificed, and even female cows, which in Egypt were sacred to Isis. That is the reason says Herodotus, 'why no native of Egypt, whether man or woman, will use the knife of a Greek, or his spit, or his caldron, or taste the flesh of an ox, known to be pure, if it has been cut with a Greek knife.' The Hebrews, at an earlier period, for the same reason, were in this respect equally obnoxious as the Greeks; 'and the same prejudice,' remarks Wilkinson, 'is continued by the Hindus, and by many of the Moslems, to the present day. But the last have gradations, like the ancient Egyptians, who looked with greater horror on those who did not cut the throat from ear to ear of all animals used for food' (Rawlinson's 'Herod.,' b. 2:, chapter 41).
Verse 33. And they sat before him. This is a minute but striking feature of Egyptian manners. The Hebrews Verse 33. And they sat before him. This is a minute but striking feature of Egyptian manners. The Hebrews used to recline sometimes (cf. Genesis 18:4), as well as sit (Genesis 27:19), at meals. But the ancient Egyptians were in the habit of sitting at table, as is proved abundantly by festive scenes depicted on the monuments. They sat, as the people of Western Europe do, with the legs perpendicular, not cross-legged nor squatted on their heels.
Verse 34. Took ... messes ... Benjamin's ... five times. In Egypt, as in other Oriental countries, there were, and are, two modes of paying attention to a guest whom the host wishes to honour-either by giving a choice piece from his own hand, or ordering it to be taken to the stranger. The degree of respect shown consists in the quantity; and while the ordinary rule of distinction is a double portion, it must have appeared to be a very distinguished mark of favour bestowed on Benjamin to have no less than five times any of his brothers. Like seven elsewhere, five was a sacred round number in Egypt (Isaiah 19:18). This social usage was probably derived from the religious rites of Egypt, India, and other Oriental nations: among whom five minor planets, and five elementary powers were accounted sacred (Gesenius).
Drank, and were merry - Hebrew, 'drank freely,' same as Song of Solomon 5:1: cf. John 2:10. In these cases the idea of intemperance is excluded. The painful anxieties and cares of Joseph's brethren were dispelled, and they were at ease.