Genesis 50
50
The Burial of Jacob
1#Ge 46:4Then Joseph fell on his father’s face and wept over him and kissed him. 2#Ge 50:26; 2Ch 16:14Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. 3#Nu 20:29; Dt 34:8Forty days were required for him, for such is the time required for those who are embalmed. Then the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.
4When the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, speak to Pharaoh, saying, 5#2Ch 16:14; Isa 22:16‘My father made me swear, saying, “I am about to die. Bury me in my tomb which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan.” Now therefore please let me go up and bury my father, and then I will return.’ ”
6Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear to do.”
7Joseph went up to bury his father, and all the servants of Pharaoh went up with him too, the elders of his household and all the elders of the land of Egypt, 8all the house of Joseph and his brothers and his father’s household. They left only their little ones and their flocks and their herds in the land of Goshen. 9Both the chariots and horsemen also went up with him. It was a very great company.
10#Ac 8:2; 2Sa 1:17When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they mourned with a great and very sorrowful lamentation. He observed seven days of mourning for his father. 11When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a grievous mourning for the Egyptians.” Therefore the place was called Abel Mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.
12So his sons did with him just as he had commanded them. 13#Ge 23:16–18; Ac 7:16For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, near Mamre, which Abraham bought with the field as a burial site from Ephron the Hittite. 14After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers and all who went up with him to bury his father.
Joseph Reassures His Brothers
15When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “Perhaps Joseph will hate us and will certainly pay us back for all the wrong we did to him.” 16So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this command before he died: 17#Ge 49:25‘Say to Joseph, “I beg you, forgive the transgressions of your brothers and their sin. For they did evil to you.” ’ Now, please forgive the transgressions of the servants of the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.
18Then his brothers also went and fell down before his face and said, “We are your servants.”
19#Ge 30:2; 2Ki 5:7Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? 20#Ro 8:28But as for you, you intended to harm me, but God intended it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many lives. 21#Ge 47:12So now, do not fear. I will provide for you and your little ones.” So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.
The Death of Joseph
22Joseph stayed in Egypt, he and his father’s household, and Joseph lived one hundred and ten years. 23#Ge 30:3; Nu 32:39Joseph saw Ephraim’s children to the third generation. Also, the children of Makir, the son of Manasseh, were brought up on Joseph’s knees.
24#Ge 26:3; 35:12; 46:4Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. God will surely come to you and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” 25#Ex 13:19; Jos 24:32Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.”
26So Joseph died at the age of one hundred and ten years old, and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.
Military Bible Association
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.
© 1987, 2004 Bible League International