Genesis 50: 1 – 28
Mourning
50 Then Joseph fell on his father’s face, and wept over him, and kissed him. 2 And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. 3 Forty days were required for him, for such are the days required for those who are embalmed; and the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days. 4 Now when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the hearing of Pharaoh, saying, 5 ‘My father made me swear, saying, “Behold, I am dying; in my grave which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me.” Now therefore, please let me go up and bury my father, and I will come back.’” 6 And Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear.” 7 So Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, 8 as well as all the house of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s house. Only their little ones, their flocks, and their herds they left in the land of Goshen. 9 And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen, and it was a very great gathering. 10 Then they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and they mourned there with a great and very solemn lamentation. He observed seven days of mourning for his father. 11 And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a deep mourning of the Egyptians.” Therefore its name was called Abel Mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan. 12 So his sons did for him just as he had commanded them. 13 For his sons carried him to the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, before Mamre, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as property for a burial place. 14 And after he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers and all who went up with him to bury his father. 15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “Perhaps Joseph will hate us, and may actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him.” 16 So they sent messengers to Joseph, saying, “Before your father died he commanded, saying, 17 ‘thus you shall say to Joseph: “I beg you, please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin; for they did evil to you.”’ Now, please, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him. 18 Then his brothers also went and fell down before his face, and they said, “Behold, we are your servants.” 19 Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? 20 but as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. 21 Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. 22 So Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his father’s household. And Joseph lived one hundred and ten years. 23 Joseph saw Ephraim’s children to the third generation. The children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were also brought up on Joseph’s knees. 24 And Joseph said to his brethren, “I am dying; but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” 25 Then Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” 26 So Joseph died, being one hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.
Mourning is, in the simplest sense, grief over someone's death. The word is also used to describe a cultural complex of behaviors. Those most affected by the loss of a loved one often observe a period of grieving, marked by withdrawal from social events and quiet, respectful behavior.
Mourning may involve a series of emotional reactions by loved ones. These are;
1. Shock, denial: This short phase of mourning occurs when one finds out the loss. The person refuses to believe it. This is a more or less intense period where emotions seem virtually absent. After this short stage of mourning the reality of loss sets in.
2. Anger: This phase is characterized by a sense of outrage due to the loss. Guilt can be installed in some cases. It is a questioning period.
3. Bargaining: Phase of internal bargaining and negotiation.
4. Depression: A more or less long phase of the mourning process which is characterized by great sadness, questioning, and distress. Mourners in this phase sometimes feel that they will never complete their mourning. They have experienced a wide range of emotions and their sorrow is great.
5. Acceptance: Last stage of mourning where the bereaved gets better. The reality of the loss is much more understood and accepted. The bereaved can still feel sadness, but has regained full functioning and has also reorganized life adjusting to the loss.
Today we are coming to the end of the book of Genesis and the end of the major Patriarchs. In one last chapter we see the mourning of Jacob and the end of Joseph’s life. So let us learn about the intense love and ceremony of mourning.
50 Then Joseph fell on his father’s face, and wept over him, and kissed him. 2 And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. 3 Forty days were required for him, for such are the days required for those who are embalmed; and the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.
Joseph mourns the death of his father. Yet he takes charge of preparation of the body and calls for his physicians to embalm his father. Records indicate that the period taken for embalming in Egypt varied in length, but required some considerable time if done properly. ‘Forty days’ probably means just over a month. The Egyptians were experts in the subject.
‘And the Egyptians wept for him for seventy days’ were the recognized period for mourning in Egypt for highly placed persons. The ‘Egyptians wept’ because they were paid to do so or because it was sensible to do so if you belonged to Joseph’s entourage. Weeping at funerals was something that was ensured financially and performed by professionals. This was a sign of great respect. That of course is not to deny that there were genuine mourners. But the private mourning by his family is not mentioned here. Here we are dealing with the official ceremonies.
4 Now when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the hearing of Pharaoh, saying, 5 ‘My father made me swear, saying, “Behold, I am dying; in my grave which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me.” Now therefore, please let me go up and bury my father, and I will come back.’”
If there was a death in the family, it was not permissible to come into Pharaoh’s presence, however high your position, until the dead had been buried. Thus Joseph has to make his approach through court officials. His approach follows court etiquette.
Joseph stresses that what he is seeking to do is as a result of an oath. But Pharaoh was not likely to refuse such permission. It was quite customary in Egypt to convey the dead to distant burial places and to devote long periods for mourning.
We see here that Jacob before he traveled to Egypt had made his funeral arrangements as we see the statement of Joseph regarding his father who told him, ‘Which I have dug for myself.’ This refers to preparations Jacob had already made in the cave of Machpelah to receive his body. Joseph wants Pharaoh to know that a place has been made ready.
6 And Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear.”
The message comes back that permission has been granted. The Pharaoh acknowledged that as his father had made him take an oath, he had to fulfill it. We also must realize that Pharaoh really liked Joseph. Joseph made him prosperous, popular, and powerful. So, to a large extent anything that Joseph asked would be gladly accepted by Pharaoh.
7 So Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, 8 as well as all the house of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s house. Only their little ones, their flocks, and their herds they left in the land of Goshen. 9 And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen, and it was a very great gathering.
So Joseph departs from Egypt with a great funeral procession. Egypt was well known for its grand funerals and this was no exception. You can just imagine if you lived at a spot in which this funeral procession traveled. It would look like a whole army was coming against you.
10 Then they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and they mourned there with a great and very solemn lamentation. He observed seven days of mourning for his father.
The special mention of the threshing floor is significant. The threshing floor was held in great esteem as the place where the heaps of corn were piled in full view of the villagers in harvest times, speaking of blessing from heaven and providing food and happiness. It was therefore considered a place of honor in which an important villager could be honored in death, and the threshing board was regularly used as a bier, symbolical of the work and the activity of the villager, in a similar way to a soldier being borne on his shield.
11 And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a deep mourning of the Egyptians.” Therefore its name was called Abel Mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.
There is a play on words here. ’ebel means mourning, and ’abel means water-course or brook. The Canaanites were understandably surprised by this huge gathering of Egyptians in mourning, following Canaanite customs, and it was ever linked to the place in a new name. ‘Water-course’ may refer to the flow of tears thought to be coming from Egyptian eyes. And it was not surprising that they thought that they were Egyptians for that is how they were all dressed and adorned.
12 So his sons did for him just as he had commanded them. 13 For his sons carried him to the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, before Mamre, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as property for a burial place.
The final burial was carried out by the sons of Jacob. Their obedience is stressed. They did what was right. They ‘carried him into the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of Machpelah’. The writer is stressing that that was what he had commanded them, and that that was what they did.
So we have three ‘funerals’; The official ceremony in Egypt, a local ceremony in Abel-mizraim; and a private ceremony at the tomb. Jacob has indeed died in honor. But his own choice was not to be buried in honor, but to be back in the land that God had promised. For that was where his heart was.
The prime purpose of the following verses is not so much to deal with the brothers’ fears with respect to Joseph as to stress that all that has happened has happened in the sovereign purpose of God. He it was Who was behind all that happened and Whose sovereign control brought good out of evil.
14 And after he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers and all who went up with him to bury his father. 15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “Perhaps Joseph will hate us, and may actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him.” 16 So they sent messengers to Joseph, saying, “Before your father died he commanded, saying, 17 ‘Thus you shall say to Joseph: “I beg you, please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin; for they did evil to you.”’ Now, please, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.
The whole entourage now returns to Egypt, and it is then that the brothers’ fears begin to emerge. They have lived for years with this dread in their hearts and now it has to be faced.
It is not surprising to find that the brothers are still carrying a heavy burden of conscience about what they had done to Joseph, for it had been unmentionably cruel. And now that their father was dead they feared that the obstacle which had prevented their being punished had been removed.
Sin, even forgiven sin, can demand of us a heavy price, and so it was with the brothers. It had lain hidden underneath but it had never gone. And now it had resurfaced. They now had to face the great Vizier alone. And they did not know what he would do. Thus their next contact with him was by messenger. They were afraid to see him face to face.
Sadly they had prepared for this day. In their fears they had discussed the matter with each other and I believe used the excuse that Jacob had advised them what to do. He had told them to pass on his dying wish that Joseph should forgive them for their general transgression against him and the specific evil that they had done. So this is what they did and added to it their own plea as ‘the servants of the God of your father.’ They not only plead using Jacob as advising them but the fact that they are a part of the covenant community and servants of the God of Jacob. And when Joseph receives their message he weeps. He cannot believe that they are still afraid of him and his heart goes out to them. It was probably the news of this weeping that makes them pluck up courage to face him.
18 Then his brothers also went and fell down before his face, and they said, “Behold, we are your servants.”
Once again they fall on their faces before him, fulfilling the dream at which they had once scoffed, as they have become used to doing through the years. And they admit, no, more than that, stress, that they are ‘his servants’. Now they do not get angry at his official superiority. They are eager to admit to it if only it will spare them from his revenge.
19 Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? 20 But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. 21 Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.
Joseph is focused on God. He sees things from God’s perspective, and he assures them that he has no intention of harming them because he knows that what happened was all part of God’s sovereign purpose, so that their evil was used for good and he is ready to leave any consequences, both for him and for them, in the hands of God.
He says to them that they have all been experiencing the outworking of the covenant God, and asking whether, when He is so working, man can interfere. The whole pattern was God’s. Thus what man would dare to disturb the pattern? So as far as he is concerned all is in the hands of God. If He has seen fit to use their behavior to save the covenant community alive, and not only them but also vast numbers of other people, then it is He Who must determine the consequences. Meanwhile he will continue to love and nourish his brothers and their families.
Joseph also testifies that God’s purpose was good, he adds, has been revealed in that so many now live because of it that would otherwise have died. This message is important for it reveals that to him and to the writer Egyptians matter to God as well as the covenant community. This is no narrow message of mercy but one that has reached out to Egypt and all the surrounding countries. And this was no cold theological position, for his heart was warm towards them and he wanted their hearts to be warm towards him.
22 So Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his father’s household. And Joseph lived one hundred and ten years.
There is no word of condemnation here. For the time dwelling in Egypt was right. In his own way Joseph and his family were witnesses there of the power and glory of their God.
23 Joseph saw Ephraim’s children to the third generation. The children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were also brought up on Joseph’s knees.
That he lives to a grand old age is certain, for he lives to see his great, great grandsons. They were placed on his knees at birth as the proud grandfather. Among the Semites the placing on the knees was an important indication of acceptance. This is possibly what is in mind in Job 3:12 where we read ‘why did the knees receive me?’. When a child was adopted it was ‘placed on the knees’.
24 And Joseph said to his brethren, “I am dying; but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”
It is interesting that Joseph next to Benjamin was the youngest yet there are some of his older brothers clearly yet alive and he calls them and tells them that he is dying. And once he is dead God will then surely visit them and take them back to the Promised Land. Joseph is strongly aware that the covenant still stands firm and God’s promises to their fathers must be fulfilled.
It would seem that he feels that, now that his position of authority will cease, their purpose in Egypt is done. They must by now have been a fairly large group numbering probably tens of thousands. But they have comfortably settled down and do not return to the land God has promised them, and eventually they will suffer for it. Our Holy God Who knows all things therefore prophesied that they would remain in the land of Egypt for over 400 years. You have to think about this point. It was not God’s command that they stay in the land for 400 years but that they remained in Egypt until our Holy God personally had to act to get them moving back to the land He had promised their ancestors beginning with Abraham. It is not wise to delay in obedience when God commands. And yet as the future reveals, when man fails God finds another way.
25 Then Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.”
Joseph is so certain that they will be returning to Canaan that he makes his brothers and their sons, the ‘children’ of Israel their father, swear an oath to take his bones with them when they go. He longs for his final resting place to be in the land of the covenant, the Promised Land. So does he affirm his strong beliefs in that covenant that has been his mainstay throughout his life, even in the courts of Egypt.
26 So Joseph died, being one hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.
This verse is not a conclusion but a hesitation, for it describes a temporary situation. The final conclusion awaits the return of his bones to the Promised Land when God visits His people.
‘One hundred and ten years old.’ is repeated and thus emphasized that he lived a full and complete life. And the very fact that this is done in terms of Egyptian thought must surely confirm to us that this was written down at a time when Egyptian thought was primarily influencing the writer and that suggests it was by someone not too long after his death as befitted a great Vizier of Egypt.
‘And they embalmed him and put him in a coffin in Egypt.’ This is his temporary resting place. He will not remain in Egypt, any more than will the children of Israel. The same embalming and mourning that followed the death of Jacob follows here. But the writer omits it. He mentions only the coffin into which he is placed, richly made and shaped roughly in the form of a man. We now are left to wait expectantly for the next episode which is titled Exodus.
