Psalm 105:21

He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

105:8-23 Let us remember the Redeemer's marvellous works, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth. Though true Christians are few number, strangers and pilgrims upon earth, yet a far better inheritance than Canaan is made sure to them by the covenant of God; and if we have the anointing of the Holy Spirit, none can do us any harm. Afflictions are among our mercies. They prove our faith and love, they humble our pride, they wean us from the world, and quicken our prayers. Bread is the staff which supports life; when that staff is broken, the body fails and sinks to the earth. The word of God is the staff of spiritual life, the food and support of the soul: the sorest judgment is a famine of hearing the word of the Lord. Such a famine was sore in all lands when Christ appeared in the flesh; whose coming, and the blessed effect of it, are shadowed forth in the history of Joseph. At the appointed time Christ was exalted as Mediator; all the treasures of grace and salvation are at his disposal, perishing sinners come to him, and are relieved by him.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

He made him lord of his house - Genesis 41:40. This implied that the administration of the affairs of the nation was virtually committed to him.

And ruler of all his substance - Margin, as in Hebrew, "possession." Of all he had. He placed all at his disposal in the affairs of his kingdom.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

19. his word came—His prophecy (Ge 41:11-20) to the officers came to pass, or was fulfilled (Jud 13:12, 17; 1Sa 9:6, explain the form of speech).

the word of the Lord—or, "saying," or "decree of the Lord."

tried him—or, "proved him," by the afflictions it appointed him to endure before his elevation (compare Ge 41:40-43).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Heb. of all his possession, i.e. of his whole kingdom.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

He made him lord of his house,.... That is, Pharaoh made Joseph lord chamberlain of his household; after he had him to court, and he had interpreted his dreams to him to his great satisfaction, and had given him such prudent advice to provide against the years of famine; see Genesis 41:33. So Christ, after his resurrection, was received up into heaven, and was made and declared Lord and Christ, Lord of all, having all power in heaven and earth given to him; particularly had the care of the church committed to him, which is the house of God, of his building, and where he dwells; where his children are born, brought up, and provided for. Here Christ is as a Son over his own house, as the owner and proprietor of it; here he is King, Priest, and Prophet; and is the provider for all in it, both of food and clothing:

of him the whole family in heaven and in earth is named, Ephesians 3:15, though he makes use of under stewards, to give to everyone their portion of meat in due season.

And ruler of all his substance, or "possession" (h); lord treasurer of all his revenue, Genesis 41:40. Herein also he was a type of Christ, who, as God, is possessor of heaven and earth, being the Creator of them; but, as Mediator, he has all things delivered into his hands; all are at his dispose, to subserve the ends of his mediatorial office; he has all temporal things, gold and silver, riches and honour, to bestow upon men at pleasure; more especially all spiritual things are with him; the gifts of the Spirit, which he has without measure; and the fulness of all grace, which it has pleased the Father should dwell in him; the blessings of the everlasting covenant, and the promises of it; all the riches of grace, pardoning, justifying, and adopting grace, and all the riches of glory.

(h) "possessione sua", Pagninus, Montanus; so Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, &c.

Geneva Study Bible

He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance:

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

21, 22. See Genesis 41:39-44. Joseph, who so lately was ‘bound in prison,’ is invested with authority to imprison even princes, and in virtue of his wisdom is made the director of Pharaoh’s counsellors.

P.B.V. that he might inform (i.e. instruct) his princes follows the LXX (Vulg.) and Jer., ut erudiret principes eius.

senators] Lit. elders.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 21. - He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance (see Genesis 41:40). Psalm 105:21

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

"To call up a famine" is also a prose expression in 2 Kings 8:1. To break the staff of bread (i.e., the staff which bread is to man) is a very old metaphor, Leviticus 26:26. That the selling of Joseph was, providentially regarded, a "sending before," he himself says in Genesis 45:5. Psalm 102:24 throws light upon the meaning of ענּה ב. The Kerמ רגלו is just as much without any occasion to justify it as עינו in Ecclesiastes 4:8 (for עיניו). The statement that iron came upon his soul is intended to say that he had to endure in iron fetters sufferings that threatened his life. Most expositors take בּרזל as equivalent to בּבּרזל, but Hitzig rightly takes נפשׁו as an object, following the Targum; for ברזל as a name of an iron fetter

(Note: Also in ancient Arabic firzil (after the Aramaic פרזלא) directly signifies an iron fetter (and the large smith's shears for cutting the iron), whence the verb. denom. Arab. farzala, c. acc. pers., to put any one into iron chains. Iron is called בּרזל from בּרז, to pierce, like the Arabic ḥdı̂d, as being the material of which pointed tools are made.)

can change its gender, as do, e.g., צפון as a name of the north wind, and כבוד as a name of the soul. The imprisonment (so harsh at the commencement) lasted over ten years, until at last Joseph's word cam to pass, viz., the word concerning this exaltation which had been revealed to him in dreams (Genesis 42:9). According to Psalm 107:20, דברו appears to be the word of Jahve, but then one would expect from Psalm 105:19 a more parallel turn of expression. What is meant is Joseph's open-hearted word concerning his visions, and אמרת ה is the revelation of God conveying His promises, which came to him in the same form, which had to try, to prove, and to purify him (צרף as in Psalm 17:3, and frequently), inasmuch as he was not to be raised to honour without having in a state of deep abasement proved a faithfulness that wavered not, and a confidence that knew no despair. The divine "word" is conceived of as a living effectual power, as in Psalm 119:50. The representation of the exaltation begins, according to Genesis 41:14, with שׁלח־מלך

(Note: Here שׁלח is united by Makkeph with the following word, to which it hurries on, whereas in Psalm 105:28 it has its own accent, a circumstance to which the Masora has directed attention in the apophthegm: שׁלוחי דמלכא זריזין שׁלוחי דחשׁוכא מתינין (the emissaries of the king are in haste, those of darkness are tardy); vid., Baer, Thorath Emeth, p. 22.)

and follows Genesis 41:39-41, Genesis 41:44, very closely as to the rest, according to which בּנפשׁו is a collateral definition to לאסּר (with an orthophonic Dag.) in the sense of בּרצונו: by his soul, i.e., by virtue of his will (vid., Psychology, S. 202; tr. p. 239). In consequence of this exaltation of Joseph, Jacob-Israel came then into Egypt, and sojourned there as in a protecting house of shelter (concerning גּוּר, vid., supra, p. 414). Egypt is called (Psalm 105:23, Psalm 105:27) the land of Chaam, as in Psalm 78:51; according to Plutarch, in the vernacular the black land, from the dark ashy grey colouring which the deposited mud of the Nile gives to the ground. There Israel became a powerful, numerous people (Exodus 1:7; Deuteronomy 26:5), greater than their oppressors.