Verse 40
40. According unto thy word shall all my people be ruled This gives the general sense, and is substantially that of the ancient versions; but the word rendered ruled is the ordinary word for kissing, and modern exegetes disagree as to its meaning . Gesenius renders: Upon thy mouth shall all my people kiss . So also Knobel and Furst . Allusion would thus be made to the custom of expressing homage by throwing a kiss . Keil, however, denies that this was a customary form of showing homage, and takes the word נשׁק in the sense of disposing or arranging one’s self: According to thy mouth (that is, thy command, Genesis 45:21) shall my whole people arrange itself . The primary signification of נשׁק seems to be that of hanging upon or cleaving unto, (see Furst, Lex . ,) and perhaps the simpler meaning here is: upon thy mouth (that is, word of command) shall all my people hang . That is, they will cleave to thy orders and all thy utterances with the greatest respect and reverence .
Only in the throne Joseph is made the grand vizier, but Pharaoh retains all his essential royalty and kingly prerogatives.
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