| Genesis 43:33
| They sat before him, the first-born according to his birth-right, and the youngest according to his age. And they wondered very much;
| They sat. This posture is more ancient than that of lying down at table. The Hebrews adopted the latter, from the Persians, during the captivity, Esther 1:6, and 7:8. --- We have at least no earlier vestige of this custom in Scripture. (Calmet) --- Very much: as they were placed in that order by the steward. They knew not how he could so exactly discover who was born first, as there was so short an interval between the births of many of them. (Haydock)
|