Genesis 50 - Outline of Genesis (Book Notes menu page)

  The previous chapter closed with the death of Israel (Jacob). Gen 49:28-33
50:1 And Joseph fell upon his father's face,
and wept upon him, and kissed him. {cp. 46:1-4,29}
50:2 And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father:
and the physicians embalmed Israel.
50:3 And forty days were fulfilled for him;
for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed:
and the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days.
50:4 And when the days of his mourning were past,
Joseph spake unto the house of Pharaoh, saying,
If now I have found grace in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying,
50:5 My father made me swear, saying, Lo, I die:
in my grave which I have digged for me in the land of Canaan, there shalt thou bury me.
Now therefore let me go up, I pray thee, and bury my father, and I will come again.
50:6 And Pharaoh said, Go up, and bury thy father, according as he made thee swear.
50:7 And 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,
50:8 And all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father's house:
only their little ones, and their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen.
50:9 And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen:
and it was a very great company.
50:10 And they came to the threshingfloor of Atad, which [is] beyond Jordan,
and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation:
and he made a mourning for his father seven days.
50:11 And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites,
saw the mourning in the floor of Atad,
they said, This [is] a grievous mourning to the Egyptians:
wherefore the name of it was called Abelmizraim {lit., 'mourning of the Egyptians'}
which [is] beyond Jordan.
50:12 And his sons did unto him according as he commanded them:
50:13 For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan,
and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field
for a possession of a buryingplace of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre. {Gen 23:17-20}
50:14 And Joseph returned into Egypt, he, and his brethren,
and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father.
  They came to the threshingfloor of Atad, which [is] beyond Jordan.-
    Mamre (near Hebron) was about 30 miles southwest of Atad, which was located between Jericho and the Jordan River (on the west side of the river). Atad was 'beyond Jordan' from Moses' perspective, because he was unable to enter the promised land, and wrote the five books of the Pentateuch while on the east side of the river.
  This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians.-
    If Joseph was 'a father unto Pharaoh' (45:8), the Egyptians must have revered his father. The God of Joseph's fathers had preserved their nation from total ruin. The aged pilgrim who stumbled in his fleshly walk, had become a blessing in his walk by faith. It was as God had said: 'I will bless thee... and thou shalt be a blessing...' (Gen 12:2).
  And his sons did unto him according as he commanded them... (v.12,13)
    Apparently, Atad was chosen as the venue for the official Egyptian mourning in honor of Joseph's father. Following those proceedings, Jacob's sons accomplished his burial as a family matter.
50:15 And when Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said,
Joseph will peradventure hate us,
and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him.
50:16 And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying,
Thy father did command before he died, saying,
50:17 So shall ye say unto Joseph,
Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren,
and their sin; for they did unto thee evil:
and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father.
And Joseph wept when they spake unto him.
50:18 And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said,
Behold, we [be] thy servants. {cp. 37:8,10}
50:19 And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for [am] I in the place of God?
50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me;
[but] God meant it unto good,
to bring to pass, as [it is] this day, to save much people alive.
50:21 Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones.
And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them. {lit., he spoke to their hearts.}
  thy father did command... forgive the trespass of thy brethren...-
    If Jacob had issued such a command, he probably would have spoken it directly to Joseph.
    Did the brothers invent this story to enhance their appeal for mercy?
  Joseph wept when they spake unto him.-
    It broke his heart that they were afraid of him, because they did not know his heart (cp. 42:21-24). They had not believed his words, when he spoke, previously, of the grace of God (45:4-8). Again, he assures them that God's grace is greater than their sin, and that his desire is only good toward them (v.20,21).
    Joseph, like Jesus, willingly paid the price to be the instrument of God's Grace toward his guilty brethren (Rom 3:23,24; also review the Book Notes at Gen 45:3-15.)
50:22 And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his father's house:
and Joseph lived an hundred and ten years.
50:23 And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third [generation]:
the children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were brought up upon Joseph's knees.
  The descendants of Manasseh and Ephraim are identified in 1Chr 7:14-19,20-27.
  Apparently, Machir was the only son of Manasseh to survive into adulthood.
  The tribe of Manesseh is sometimes called Machir.
50:24 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you,
and bring you out of this land
unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
50:25 And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying,
God will surely visit you, {Gen 15:13-16}
and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.
50:26 So Joseph died, [being] an hundred and ten years old:
and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. {cp. Ex 13:19; Josh 24:32}
  Joseph's command concerning his bones was a statement of his faith that
    God would fulfill His Word concerning His covenant promises,
    and that he himself would be resurrected to enjoy that future day. cp. Heb 11:22
  ...in a coffin in Egypt. -
    The book of beginnings (Genesis), opens with the gift of life, and closes with the consequences of man's fall (Rom 5:12).
    To unbelievers, a closed coffin holds nothing but despair at death's finality.
    Yet, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph all rest in faith, awaiting the Salvation, promised by their God. cp. Gen 49:18; Heb 11:13-16

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