Jacob's Burial in Canaan
Study note
Joseph weeps over his father's body and has the Egyptian physicians embalm him. The embalming process takes forty days, and the Egyptians mourn for seventy days — nearly as long as they would mourn for a pharaoh, showing the great respect given to Jacob. Joseph asks Pharaoh's permission to take his father's body to Canaan for burial. A massive procession goes with him — Egyptian officials, elders, chariots, and horsemen. They stop at the threshing floor of Atad near the Jordan River and mourn for seven days. The Canaanites see the mourning and name the place Abel Mizraim, meaning 'mourning of Egypt.' Jacob's sons bury him in the cave of Machpelah, as he requested.
1 Joseph fell across his father's body and cried over him, covering his face with kisses. And Joseph fell upon his father's face, and wept upon him, and kissed him.
2 Then Joseph told the doctors who worked for him to prepare his father's body with special spices and wrapping to preserve it. So the doctors embalmed Israel. And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel.
3 The embalming process took 40 days, which was the normal amount of time. The people of Egypt spent 70 days mourning for Jacob. 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.
4 After the time of mourning was over, Joseph spoke to the officials in Pharaoh's court. He said, "If you would do me a favor, please pass along a message to Pharaoh for me." 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,
5 "Before my father died, he made me give him my word. He said, 'I am going to die soon. You must bury me in the tomb I dug for myself in the land of Canaan.' Please let me go and bury my father. I promise I will come back." 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.
6 Pharaoh answered, "Go ahead. Bury your father, just as you promised him you would." And Pharaoh said, Go up, and bury thy father, according as he made thee swear.
7 So Joseph traveled to Canaan to bury his father. A great number of important people went with him. They included Pharaoh's officials, the top leaders of Pharaoh's household, and the leading men of Egypt. 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,
8 Joseph's whole family went too, along with his brothers and everyone from his father's household. The only ones left behind in Goshen were the little children and the flocks and herds. 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.
9 Soldiers riding in chariots and on horseback also traveled with them. It was a very large funeral procession. And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company.
10 When they arrived at the threshing floor of Atad, near the Jordan River, they stopped and cried loudly with deep sadness. Joseph held a seven-day time of mourning for his father. 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.
11 The Canaanite people living nearby saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad. They said, "This is a time of deep sadness for the Egyptians." So the place near the Jordan was named Abel Mizraim, which means "the mourning of Egypt." 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 Abel-mizraim, which is beyond Jordan.
12 Jacob's sons carried out his wishes exactly as he had told them to. And his sons did unto him according as he commanded them:
13 They brought his body to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre. This was the field that Abraham had bought from Ephron the Hittite as a place to bury his family. 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.
14 After the burial was done, Joseph went back to Egypt. His brothers and everyone else who had made the trip went back with him. 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.
Joseph Forgives His Brothers
Study note
After Jacob's death, the brothers are terrified that Joseph will finally take revenge. They send a message claiming their father asked Joseph to forgive them. Whether this message was real or invented out of fear, Joseph weeps when he hears it. When his brothers come and bow before him, Joseph tells them not to be afraid. He speaks one of the most important verses in all of Genesis: 'You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good, to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.' This verse captures the central message of the entire Joseph story — that God can work through even the worst human actions to bring about his good plan. Joseph promises to take care of them and their children.
15 After their father was gone, Joseph's brothers started to worry. They said to each other, "What if Joseph is still angry with us? What if he decides to get back at us for all the terrible things we did to him?" 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.
16 So they sent a message to Joseph that said, "Before he died, your father left these instructions for you:" And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying,
17 "'Tell Joseph that I am asking him to please forgive his brothers for the awful way they treated him.' So we are begging you now -- please forgive us. We serve the same God your father served." When Joseph heard this message, he broke down and cried. 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.
18 Then his brothers came in person and fell down on the ground in front of him. They said, "We will be your servants." And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants.
19 But Joseph told them, "You do not need to be afraid. I am not God -- it is not my place to punish you." And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God?
20 "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save many people alive." 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.
21 "So do not be scared. I will take care of you and your children." He spoke gently to them and put their hearts at ease. Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.
The Death of Joseph
Study note
Joseph lives in Egypt with his father's family and reaches the age of 110, which the Egyptians considered the ideal lifespan. He lives to see his great-grandchildren. Before he dies, Joseph makes the Israelites promise something important: when God comes to lead them out of Egypt and back to the Promised Land, they must carry his bones with them. This shows Joseph's faith that God's promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will be fulfilled. Joseph dies and is embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt. The book of Genesis ends with Israel in Egypt, awaiting God's next move. Moses would later carry Joseph's bones out during the Exodus, fulfilling this promise.
22 Joseph continued living in Egypt along with his father's entire family. He lived to be 110 years old. And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his father's house: and Joseph lived an hundred and ten years.
23 Joseph got to see Ephraim's children and grandchildren. He also lived to see the birth of the children of Makir, who was Manasseh's son. Joseph treated them as his own and bounced them on his knees. 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.
24 One day Joseph told his brothers, "The time has come for me to die. But I want you to know that God will definitely come to your aid. He will lead you out of this country and take you to the land he promised to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." 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.
25 Then Joseph made the sons of Israel give him their solemn word. He said, "When God comes to rescue you, you must take my bones with you when you leave this place." And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.
26 Joseph died at the age of 110. His body was embalmed and placed in a coffin in the land of Egypt. So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.