“Genesis 50:1-6”

Thursday, May 07, 2020

“Then Joseph fell on his father’s face, and wept over him and kissed him. Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. Now forty days were required for it, for such is the period required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days. When the days of mourning for him were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, ‘If now I have found favor in your sight, please speak to Pharaoh, saying, “My father made me swear, saying, ‘Behold, I am about to die; 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; then I will return.”’ Pharaoh said, ‘Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear.’”

---End of Scripture verses---

“Then Joseph fell on his father’s face, and wept over him and kissed him.” (verse 1) Joseph’s brothers, no doubt, mourned and wept alongside him when their father departed this earthly plain and set sail for eternal realms beyond, but it was Joseph’s exalted position and extraordinary bond with Jacob that gave him the spotlight in the inspired text. Joseph was the son who would provide for a royal embalming and burial for the great patriarch, and the Lord promised Jacob that his favorite son would personally see him off as he set out on his final voyage: “I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will close your eyes” (Genesis 46:4)

“Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel.” (verse 2) The Egyptian embalming method was a complicated procedure that required “forty days” for completion (verse 3). This painstaking process was to make certain the bodies of Pharaohs were well preserved for the afterlife, but there were no religious rituals or superstitions involved in the mummification of Jacob or the subsequent embalming of Joseph (verse 26). “The reason for Jacob's being embalmed lay in the fact that a long period of mourning was scheduled, and also in the necessity to transport the body over a great distance to the land of Canaan… Egyptian mummies preserved for centuries bear silent witness to the remarkable efficiency of these embalmers.” (James Burton Coffman)

“The Egyptians wept for him seventy days.” (verse 3) “Thirty days, (according to the custom of the Hebrews, Numbers 20:29, Deuteronomy 34:8, to which doubtless the Egyptians in this case did accommodate themselves,) besides the forty days spent in embalming him, which also was a time of mourning.” (Matthew Poole’s Commentary) The extent of Jacob’s bereavement was strikingly similar to the official 72 day mourning period ascribed to Pharaohs by some historians.

“When the days of mourning for him were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh…” (verse 4) It is interesting that Joseph sent his request to Pharaoh by means of messengers and did not approach the king himself. James Burton Coffman provides several possible suggested reasons: (1) “He approached Pharaoh through the priests who were principals in the house of Pharaoh, and since the burial of the dead was closely connected with their religious rites.” (2) “Joseph was a mourner, therefore unclean…and…he could not see Pharaoh personally (see Genesis 41:14).” 3) “Another Pharaoh, not so friendly to Joseph, had ascended the throne.” (4) There were “‘diplomatic considerations,’ which is not unreasonable since Joseph's leaving Egypt was involved.” I lean toward explanation number (2) or (4) or a combination of the two as the most likely explanations.

“My father made me swear, saying, ‘Behold, I am about to die; in my grave which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me.’” (verse 5) “This is another instance of additional information being supplied in subsequent references to an event already mentioned…. Abraham had indeed purchased Machpelah; but, probably, upon the occasion of Leah's burial there, Jacob also prepared for himself a grave within the cave.” (James Burton Coffman) “Pharaoh said, ‘Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear.’” (verse 6) The fact that Jacob had made Joseph “swear” to bury him in the land of Canaan demonstrated to Pharaoh that this was not a trivial matter to be taken lightly, therefore he granted Joseph official leave from his governmental post and duties to carry out his sacred oath. God’s governance and providence would not have permitted otherwise.

Please read Genesis 50:7-13 for tomorrow.

Have a great day!

-Louie Taylor

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