Today's Favorite Verse: Genesis 43:32-33

Today's Favorite Verse: Genesis 43:32-33

"And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians, which did eat with him, by themselves: because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians.

And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth: and the men marvelled one at another."

I took time to think about this one and make sure I could picture it correctly. There were three separate tables. The Egyptians sat by themselves, Joseph sat by himself, and his brothers sat by themselves. So first it's odd that Joseph is not sitting with either party. He's saying at least to them, I'm not an Egyptian. Then he has the brothers seated at their table according to their birthright. They would marvel again on how he would know this.

Abomination had a footnote for Genesis 46:34

"That ye shall say, Thy servants' trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians."

I didn't really understand why the shepherd or the Hebrew was an abomination to the Egyptians. Then I found this.

"Several Egyptian deities were represented by cattle, especially female cattle. Since the Hebrews were herdsmen who slaughtered and ate cattle, regardless of sex, this practice would have been viewed by the Egyptians as a terrible abomination. Whatever the reason, Joseph seemed to respect the custom of Egyptians and Hebrews eating separately."

(Old Testament Student Manual, Genesis 37-50: Joseph: The Power of Preparation)

What this all made me ponder on was respect for the customs and beliefs of others. Let others be separate if that shows respect to them. Yet, we can all get along with each other.

"And he took and sent messes unto them from before him: but Benjamin's mess was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were merry with him."

Day 2202