Genesis 50
50
Jacob’s Funeral
1When Israel died, Joseph was very sad. He hugged his father and cried over him and kissed him. 2Joseph commanded his servants to prepare his father’s body. (These servants were doctors.) The doctors prepared Jacob’s body to be buried. They prepared the body in the special way of the Egyptians. 3When the Egyptians prepared the body in this special way, they waited 40 days before they buried the body. Then the Egyptians had a special time of sadness for Jacob. This time was 70 days.
4After the time of sadness was finished, Joseph spoke to Pharaoh’s officers and said, “Please tell this to Pharaoh: 5‘When my father was near death, I made a promise to him. I promised that I would bury him in a cave in the land of Canaan. This is the cave that he prepared for himself. So please let me go and bury my father. Then I will come back here to you.’”
6Pharaoh answered, “Keep your promise. Go and bury your father.”
7So Joseph went to bury his father. All of Pharaoh’s officials, personal advisors, and all the older leaders of Egypt went with Joseph. 8All the people in Joseph’s family, his brothers, and all the people in his father’s family went with him. Only the children and the animals stayed in the land of Goshen. 9So there was a large crowd of people with him. There was even a group of soldiers riding in chariots and some on horses.
10They went to Goren Atad,#50:10 Goren Atad Or “Atad’s threshing floor.” east of the Jordan River. There they had a long funeral service for Israel, which continued for seven days. 11When the people who lived in Canaan saw the funeral service at Goren Atad, they said, “This is a time of great sorrow for those Egyptians.” So now that place across the Jordan River is named Abel Mizraim.#50:11 Abel Mizraim This means “Egyptian time of sadness.”
12So Jacob’s sons did what their father told them. 13They carried his body to Canaan and buried it in the cave at Machpelah. This was the cave near Mamre in the field that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite. Abraham bought that cave to use as a burial place. 14After Joseph buried his father, he and everyone in the group with him went back to Egypt.
The Brothers Are Still Afraid of Joseph
15After Jacob died, Joseph’s brothers were worried. They were afraid that Joseph would still be mad at them for what they had done years before. They said, “Maybe Joseph still hates us for what we did.” 16So the brothers sent this message to Joseph: “Before your father died, he told us to give you a message. 17He said, ‘Tell Joseph that I beg him to please forgive his brothers for the bad things they did to him.’ So now Joseph, we beg you, please forgive us for the bad things we did to you. We are the servants of God, the God of your father.”
That message made Joseph very sad, and he cried. 18His brothers went to him and bowed down in front of him. They said, “We will be your servants.”
19Then Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. I am not God! I have no right to punish you. 20It is true that you planned to do something bad to me. But really, God was planning good things. God’s plan was to use me to save the lives of many people. And that is what happened. 21So don’t be afraid. I will take care of you and your children.” And so Joseph said kind things to his brothers, and this made them feel better.
22Joseph continued to live in Egypt with his father’s family. He died when he was 110 years old. 23During Joseph’s life Ephraim had children and grandchildren. And his son Manasseh had a son named Makir. Joseph lived to see Makir’s children.
The Death of Joseph
24When Joseph was near death, he said to his brothers, “My time to die is almost here. But I know that God will take care of you and lead you out of this country. God will lead you to the land he promised to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
25Then Joseph asked his people to make a promise. Joseph said, “Promise me that you will carry my bones with you when God leads you out of Egypt.”
26Joseph died in Egypt when he was 110 years old. Doctors prepared his body for burial and put the body in a coffin in Egypt.
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Genesis 50
50
The Burials of Jacob and Joseph
1 Then Joseph hugged his father’s face.#tn Heb “fell on.” The expression describes Joseph’s unrestrained sorrow over Jacob’s death; he probably threw himself across the body and embraced his father. He wept over him and kissed him. 2 Joseph instructed the physicians in his service#tn Heb “his servants the physicians.” to embalm his father, so the physicians embalmed Israel. 3 They took forty days, for that is the full time needed for embalming.#tn Heb “and forty days were fulfilled for him, for thus are fulfilled the days of embalming.” The Egyptians mourned#tn Heb “wept.” for him seventy days.#sn Seventy days. This probably refers to a time of national mourning.
4 When the days of mourning#tn Heb “weeping.” had passed, Joseph said to Pharaoh’s royal court,#tn Heb “the house of Pharaoh.” “If I have found favor in your sight, please say to Pharaoh,#tn Heb “in the ears of Pharaoh.” 5 ‘My father made me swear an oath. He said,#tn Heb “saying.” “I am about to die. Bury me#tn The imperfect verbal form here has the force of a command. in my tomb that I dug for myself there in the land of Canaan.” Now let me go and bury my father; then I will return.’” 6 So Pharaoh said, “Go and bury your father, just as he made you swear to do.”#tn Heb “he made you swear on oath.”
7 So Joseph went up to bury his father; all Pharaoh’s officials went with him – the senior courtiers#tn Or “dignitaries”; Heb “elders.” of his household, all the senior officials of the land of Egypt, 8 all Joseph’s household, his brothers, and his father’s household. But they left their little children and their flocks and herds in the land of Goshen. 9 Chariots and horsemen also went up with him, so it was a very large entourage.#tn Heb “camp.”
10 When they came to the threshing floor of Atad#sn The location of the threshing floor of Atad is not certain. The expression the other side of the Jordan could refer to the eastern or western bank, depending on one’s perspective. However, it is commonly used in the OT for Transjordan. This would suggest that the entourage came up the Jordan Valley and crossed into the land at Jericho, just as the Israelites would in the time of Joshua. on the other side of the Jordan, they mourned there with very great and bitter sorrow.#tn Heb “and they mourned there [with] very great and heavy mourning.” The cognate accusative, as well as the two adjectives and the adverb, emphasize the degree of their sorrow. There Joseph observed a seven day period of mourning for his father. 11 When the Canaanites who lived in the land saw them mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a very sad occasion#tn Heb “this is heavy mourning for Egypt.” for the Egyptians.” That is why its name was called#tn The verb has no expressed subject and so it may be translated as passive. Abel Mizraim,#sn The name Abel Mizraim means “the mourning of Egypt.” which is beyond the Jordan.
12 So the sons of Jacob did for him just as he had instructed them. 13 His sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, near Mamre. This is the field Abraham purchased as a burial plot from Ephron the Hittite. 14 After he buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, along with his brothers and all who had accompanied him to bury his father.
15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph bears a grudge and wants to repay#tn The imperfect tense could be a simple future; it could also have a desiderative nuance. us in full#tn The infinitive absolute makes the statement emphatic, “repay in full.” for all the harm#tn Or “evil.” we did to him?” 16 So they sent word#tn The verb means “command,” but they would hardly be commanding him. It probably means they sent their father’s instructions to Joseph. to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave these instructions before he died: 17 ‘Tell Joseph this: Please forgive the sin of your brothers and the wrong they did when they treated you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sin of the servants of the God of your father.” When this message was reported to him, Joseph wept.#tn Heb “and Joseph wept when they spoke to him.” 18 Then his brothers also came and threw themselves down before him; they said, “Here we are; we are your slaves.” 19 But Joseph answered them, “Don’t be afraid. Am#tn Heb “For am I.” I in the place of God? 20 As for you, you meant to harm me,#tn Heb “you devised against me evil.” but God intended it for a good purpose, so he could preserve the lives of many people, as you can see this day.#tn Heb “God devised it for good in order to do, like this day, to preserve alive a great nation.” 21 So now, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your little children.” Then he consoled them and spoke kindly#tn Heb “spoke to their heart.” to them.
22 Joseph lived in Egypt, along with his father’s family.#tn Heb “he and the house of his father.” Joseph lived 110 years. 23 Joseph saw the descendants of Ephraim to the third generation.#tn Heb “saw Ephraim, the children of the third.” He also saw the children of Makir the son of Manasseh; they were given special inheritance rights by Joseph.#tn Heb “they were born on the knees of Joseph.” This expression implies their adoption by Joseph, which meant that they received an inheritance from him.
24 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to you#tn The verb פָּקַד (paqad) means “to visit,” i.e., to intervene for blessing or cursing; here Joseph announces that God would come to fulfill the promises by delivering them from Egypt. The statement is emphasized by the use of the infinitive absolute with the verb: “God will surely visit you.” and lead you up from this land to the land he swore on oath to give#tn The words “to give” are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons. to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” 25 Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath. He said, “God will surely come to you. Then you must carry my bones up from this place.” 26 So Joseph died at the age of 110.#tn Heb “son of a hundred and ten years.” After they embalmed him, his body#tn Heb “he.” was placed in a coffin in Egypt.
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