Ephrem the Syrian : Joseph went out to meet his father with chariots and with many people. [Joseph] got down [from his horse] and bowed down to his father, and they wept on each other's neck. Then Joseph commanded his brothers to say to Pharaoh, "We and our fathers are keepers of cattle," so that they might dwell in Goshen and thus keep their distance from those who worship sheep and bulls. — COMMENTARY ON Genesis 40:6 John Chrysostom : Note the shrewdness with which Joseph advises them, not idly or to no purpose making these suggestions but anxious to put them in a more secure position and at the same time to ensure their assimilation among the Egyptians. You see, since they loathed and despised those who tended flocks for having no time for Egyptian wisdom, consequently he counsels them to make a pretense of their occupation so that he may plausibly apportion them the most attractive land and cause them to live in considerable prosperity. — HOMILIES ON Genesis 65.9 Augustine of Hippo : THE EGYPTIANS, FIGURE OF THE PRESENT WORLD. — For every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians . The Egyptians, who symbolize the figure of this world in which abounding iniquity, rightly abhor every shepherd, for a righteous man is an abomination to the ungodly. [ — QUESTIONS ON GENESIS, Q. 153 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)