50:2,3Embatming was typical for Egyptians but unusual for nomadic shepherds. Believing that the dead went to the next world in their physical bodies. the Egyptians embalmed bodies to preserve them so they could function in the world to come. Jacob’s family allowed him to be embalmed as a sign of courtesy and respect to the Egyptians.
Life Application Study BibleGenesisChapter 50
Genesis 50
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 92, 93
A few verse numbers on this page were hard to read in the scan and are marked with a dotted underline — compare with the original page image if in doubt.
50Genesis 50
1Joseph threw himself on his father and wept over him and kissed him. @Then Joseph told the physicians who served him to embalm his father’s body; so Jacob* was embalmed. 2The embalming process took the usual forty days. And the Egyptians mourned his death for seventy days. 4when the period of mourning was over, Joseph approached Pharaoh’s advisers and said, “Please do me this favor and speak to Pharaoh on my behalf. 5Tell him that my father made me swear an oath. He said to me, ‘Listen, I am about to die. Take my body back to the land of Canaan, and bury me in the tomb I prepared for myself.’ So please allow me to go and bury my father. After his burial, I will return without delay.” 6Pharaoh agreed to Joseph’s request. “Go and bury your father, as he made you promise,” he said. 7So Joseph went up to bury his father. He was accompanied by all of Pharaoh's offi- cials, all the senior members of Pharaoh's household, and all the senior officers of Egypt. 8Joseph also took his entire household and his brothers and their households. But they left their little children and flocks and herds in the land of Goshen. 9A great number of chariots and charioteers accompanied Joseph. 10When they arrived at the threshing floor of Atad, near the Jordan River, they held avery great and solemn memorial service, with a seven-day period of mourning for Joseph’s father. 11The local residents, the Canaanites, watched them mourning at the threshing floor of Atad. Then they renamed that place (which is near the Jordan) Abel-mizraim,* for they said, “This is a place of deep mourning for these Egyptians.” 12So Jacob’s sons did as he had commanded them. 13They carried his body to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre. This is the cave that Abraham had bought as a permanent burial site from Ephron the Hittite.
Joseph Reassures His Brothers
1414After burying Jacob, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had accompanied him to his father’s burial. 15But now that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers became fearful. “Now Joseph will show his anger and pay us back for all the wrong we did to him,” they said. 16So they sent this message to Joseph: “Before your father died, he instructed us 17to say to you: ‘Please forgive your brothers for the great wrong they did to you—for their sin in treating you so cruelly.’ So we, the servants of the God of your father, beg you to forgive our sin.” When Joseph received the message, he broke down and wept. 18Then his brothers came and threw themselves down before Joseph. “Look, we are your slaves!” they said. 19But Joseph replied, “Don’t be afraid of me. Am I God, that I can punish you? 20You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people. 21No, don’t be afraid. I will continue to take care of you and your children.” So he reassured them by speaking kindly to them.
The Death of Joseph
2280 Joseph and his brothers and their families continued to live in Egypt. Joseph lived to the age of 110. 23He lived to see three generations of descendants of his son Ephraim, and he lived to see the birth of the children of Manasseh’s son Makir, whom he claimed as his own.* 24“Soon I will die,” Joseph told his brothers, “but God will surely come to help you and lead you out of this Jand of Egypt. He will bring you back to the land he solemnly promised to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” 25Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath, and he said, “When God comes to help you and lead you back, you must take my bones with you.” 26So Joseph died at the age of 110. The Egyptians embalmed him, and his body was placed in a coffin in Egypt.
Textual footnotes
- 50:2 Hebrew /srael. See note on 35:21.
- 50:11 Abel-mizraim means “mourning of the Egyptians.” 50:23 Hebrew who were born on Joseph's knees.
Life Application Notes 7 notes
50:5Joseph had proven himself trustworthy as Pharaoh's adviser. Because of his good record, Pharaoh had little doubt that he would return to Egypt as promised after burying his father in Canaan. Privileges and freedom often result when we have demonstrated our trustworthiness. Since trust must be built gradually over time, take every opportunity to prove your reliability even in minor matters. So:12, 13 Abraham had purchased the cave in the field of Machpelah as a burial place for his wife Sarah (23:1-9). It was to be a burial place for his entire family. Jacob was Abraham’s grandson, and Jacob’s sons returned to Canaan to bury him in this cave along with Abraham and Isaac. Their desire to be buried in this cave expressed their faith in God’s promise to give their descendants the land of Canaan.
50:15-21Now that Jacob (or Israel) was dead, the brothers feared revenge from Joseph. Could he really have forgiven them for selling him into slavery? But to their surprise, Joseph not only forgave them but reassured them, offering to care for them and their families. Joseph’s forgiveness was complete. He demon- Strated how God graciously accepts us even though we don't deserve it. Because God forgives us even when we have ignored Or rejected him, we should graciously forgive others.
50:20God brought good from the brothers’ evil deed, Potiphar’s wife’s false accusation, the cup-bearer’s neglect, and seven years of famine. The experiences in Joseph's life taught him that God brings good from evil for those who trust him. Do you trust God enough to wait patiently for him to bring good out of bad situations? You can trust him because, as Joseph learned, God can overrule people's evil intentions to bring about his intended results.
50:24Joseph was ready to die. He had no doubts that God would keep his promise and one day bring the Israelites back to their homeland. What a tremendous example! The secret of that kind of faith is a lifetime of trusting God. Your faith is like a muscle—it grows with exercise, gaining strength over time. After a lifetime of exercising trust, your faith can be as strong as Joseph's. Then at your death, you can be confident that God will fulfill all his promises to you and to ail those faithful to him who may live after you.
50:24This verse sets the stage for what would begin to happen in Exodus and come to completion in Joshua. God was going to make Jacob’s family into a great nation, lead them out of Egypt, and bring them into the land he had promised them. The nation would rely heavily on this promise, and Joseph emphasized his belief that God would do what he had promised.
50:26The book of Genesis gives us rich descriptions of the lives of many great men and women who walked with God. They sometimes succeeded and often failed. Yet we learn much by reading the biographies of these people. Where did they get their motivation and courage? They got it by realizing God was with them despite their inadequacies. Knowing this should encourage us to be faithful ta God, to rely on him for guidance, and to utilize the potential he has given us.