14. Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph--Now that God's set time
had come
(Ps 105:19),
no human power nor policy could detain Joseph in prison. During his
protracted confinement, he might have often been distressed with
perplexing doubts; but the mystery of Providence was about to be
cleared up, and all his sorrows forgotten in the course of honor and
public usefulness in which his services were to be employed.
shaved himself--The Egyptians were the only Oriental nation that
liked a smooth chin. All slaves and foreigners who were reduced to that
condition, were obliged, on their arrival in that country, to conform
to the cleanly habits of the natives, by shaving their beards and
heads, the latter of which were covered with a close cap. Thus
prepared, Joseph was conducted to the palace, where the king seemed to
have been anxiously waiting his arrival.
JFB.
Picture Study Bible