Genesis 50:24 Kommentar

Here is, I. The preparation for Jacob's funeral (Gen 50:1-6). II. The funeral itself (Gen 50:7-14). III. The settling of a good understanding between Joseph and his brethren after the death of Jacob (Gen 50:15-21). IV. The age and death of Joseph (Gen 50:22-26). Thus the book of Genesis, which began with the origin of light and life, ends with nothing but death and darkness; so sad a change has sin made.

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 50 This chapter contains a short account of what happened from the death of Jacob to the death of Joseph, and is chiefly concerned with the funeral of Jacob; it first gives an account how Joseph was affected with his father's death, of his orders to the physicians to embalm him, and of the time of their embalming him, and of the Egyptians mourning for him, Gen 50:1, next of his request to Pharaoh to give him leave to go and bury his father in Canaan, and his grant of it, Gen 50:4 and then of the grand funeral procession thither, the mourning made for Jacob, and his interment according to his orders, Gen 50:7 upon the return of Joseph and his brethren to Egypt, they fearing his resentment of their former usage of him, entreat him to forgive them; which they said they did at the direction of their father, to which Joseph readily agreed, and comforted them, and spoke kindly to them, and bid them not fear any hurt from him, for whatever were their intention, God meant it, and had overruled it for good, Gen 50:14 and the chapter is concluded with an account of Joseph's age and death, and of his posterity he saw before his death, and of the charge he gave to his brethren to carry his bones with them, when they should depart from Egypt, Gen 50:22.

And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel,.... Not of his brethren only, but of their posterity, as many of them as were now grown up, that so it might be communicated from one to another, and become well known to that generation which should depart out of Egypt: saying, God will surely visit you; which he repeats for the certainty of it, and that it might be observed: and ye shall carry up my bones from hence; when they should go from thence to Canaan's land; he did not desire them to carry him thither when he should die, which he knew would give umbrage to the Egyptians, and they would not be so able to obtain leave to do it as he had for his father. This was accordingly done; when Israel went out of Egypt, Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, and they were buried in Shechem; see Exo 13:19.

Joseph bewails the death of his father, and commands the physicians to embalm him, Gen 50:1, Gen 50:2. The Egyptians mourn for him seventy days, Gen 50:3. Joseph begs permission from Pharaoh to accompany his father's corpse to Canaan, Gen 50:4, Gen 50:5. Pharaoh consents, Gen 50:6. Pharaoh's domestics and elders, the elders of Egypt, Joseph and his brethren, with chariots, horsemen, etc., form the funeral procession, Gen 50:7-9. They come to the threshing-floor of Atad, and mourn there seven days, Gen 50:10. The Canaanites call the place Abel-Mizraim, Gen 50:11. They bury Jacob in the cove of Machpelah, Gen 50:12, Gen 50:13. Joseph returns to Egypt, Gen 50:14. His brethren, fearing his displeasure, send messengers to him to entreat his forgiveness of past wrongs, Gen 50:15-17. They follow, and prostrate themselves before him, and offer to be his servants, Gen 50:18. Joseph receives them affectionately, and assures them and theirs of his care and protection, Gen 50:19-21. Joseph and his brethren dwell in Egypt, and he sees the third generation of his children, Gen 50:22, Gen 50:23. Being about to die, he prophecies the return of the children of Israel from Egypt, Gen 50:24, and causes them to swear that they will carry his bones to Canaan, Gen 50:25. Joseph dies, aged one hundred and ten years; is embalmed, and put in a coffin in Egypt, Gen 50:26.

Joseph said - I die - That is, I am dying; and God will surely visit you - he will yet again give you, in the time when it shall be essentially necessary, the most signal proof of his unbounded love towards the seed of Jacob. And bring you out of this land - Though ye have here every thing that can render life comfortable, yet this is not the typical land, the land given by covenant, the land which represents the rest that remains for the people of God.

MOURNING FOR JACOB. (Gen. 50:1-26) Joseph fell upon his father's face, &c.--On him, as the principal member of the family, devolved the duty of closing the eyes of his venerable parent (compare Gen 46:4) and imprinting the farewell kiss.

Joseph said unto his brethren, I die--The national feelings of the Egyptians would have been opposed to his burial in Canaan; but he gave the strongest proof of the strength of his faith and full assurance of the promises, by "the commandment concerning his bones" [Heb 11:22].

Burial of Jacob. - Gen 50:1-3. When Jacob died, Joseph fell upon the face of his beloved father, wept over him, and kissed him. He then gave the body to the physicians to be embalmed, according to the usual custom in Egypt. The physicians are called his servants, because the reference is to the regular physicians in the service of Joseph, the eminent minister of state; and according to Herod. 2, 84, there were special physicians in Egypt for every description of disease, among whom the Taricheuta, who superintended the embalming, were included, as a special but subordinate class. The process of embalming lasted 40 days, and the solemn mourning 70 (Gen 50:3). This is in harmony with the statements of Herodotus and Diodorus when rightly understood (see Hengstenberg, Egypt and the Books of Moses, p. 67ff.).

When Joseph saw his death approaching, he expressed to his brethren his firm belief in the fulfilment of the divine promise (Gen 46:4-5, cf. Gen 15:16, Gen 15:18.), and made them take an oath, that if God should bring them into the promised land, they would carry his bones with them from Egypt. This last desire of his was carried out. When he died, they embalmed him, and laid him (ויּישׂם from ישׂם, like Gen 24:33 in the chethib) "in the coffin," i.e., the ordinary coffin, constructed of sycamore-wood (see Hengstenberg, pp. 71, 72), which was then deposited in a room, according to Egyptian custom (Herod. 2, 86), and remained in Egypt for 360 years, until they carried it away with them at the time of the exodus, when it was eventually buried in Shechem, in the piece of land which had been bought by Jacob there (Gen 33:19; Jos 24:32). Thus the account of the pilgrim-life of the patriarchs terminates with an act of faith on the part of the dying Joseph; and after his death, in consequence of his instructions, the coffin with his bones became a standing exhortation to Israel, to turn its eyes away from Egypt to Canaan, the land promised to its fathers, and to wait in the patience of faith for the fulfilment of the promise. Chronological Survey of the Leading Eventsof the Patriarchal History Arranged according to the Hebrew Text, as a continuation of the Chronological Tables at p. 77, with an additional calculation of the year before Christ. The Events Year of Migration to Egypt Year of Entrance into Canaan Year from the Creation Year Before Christ Abram's entrance into Canaan 1 2021 2137 Birth of Ishmael 11 2032 2126 Institution of Circumcision 24 2045 2113 Birth of Isaac 25 2046 2112 Death of Sarah 62 2083 2075 Marriage of Isaac 65 2086 2072 Birth of Esau and Jacob 85 2106 2052 Death of Abraham 100 2121 2037 Marriage of Esau 125 2146 2012 Death of Ishmael 148 2169 1989 Flight of Jacob to Padan Aram 162 2183 1975 Jacob's Marriage 169 2190 1968 Birth of Joseph 176 2197 1961 Jacob's return from Padan Aram 182 2203 1951 Jacob's arrival at Shechem in Canaan ? 187 ? 2208 ? 1950 Jacob's return home to Hebron 192 2213 1945 Sale of Joseph 193 2214 1944 Death of Isaac 205 2226 1932 Promotion of Joseph in Egypt 206 2227 1931 Removal of Israel to Egypt 1 215 2236 1922 Death of Jacob 17 232 2253 1905 Death of Joseph 71 286 2307 1851 Birth of Moses 350 565 2586 1572 Exodus of Israel from Egypt 430 645 2666 1492 The calculation of the years b.c. is based upon the fact, that the termination of the 70 years' captivity coincided with the first year of the sole government of Cyrus, and fell in the year 536 b.c.; consequently the captivity commenced in the year 606 B. C.