20 As for you, ye devised against me evil -- God devised it for good, in order to do as `at' this day, to keep alive a numerous people;
And we have known that to those loving God all things do work together for good, to those who are called according to purpose;
Good for me that I have been afflicted, That I might learn Thy statutes.
and now, be not grieved, nor let it be displeasing in your eyes that ye sold me hither, for to preserve life hath God sent me before you. `Because these two years the famine `is' in the heart of the land, and yet `are' five years, `in' which there is neither ploughing nor harvest; and God sendeth me before you, to place of you a remnant in the land, and to give life to you by a great escape; and now, ye -- ye have not sent me hither, but God, and He doth set me for a father to Pharaoh, and for lord to all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
to you first, God, having raised up His child Jesus, did send him, blessing you, in the turning away of each one from your evil ways.'
and his brethren see that their father hath loved him more than any of his brethren, and they hate him, and have not been able to speak `to' him peaceably.
`The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, did glorify His child Jesus, whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, he having given judgment to release `him', and ye the Holy and Righteous One did deny, and desired a man -- a murderer -- to be granted to you, and the Prince of the life ye did kill, whom God did raise out of the dead, of which we are witnesses;
And they see him from afar, even before he draweth near unto them, and they conspire against him to put him to death. And they say one unto another, `Lo, this man of the dreams cometh; and now, come, and we slay him, and cast him into one of the pits, and have said, An evil beast hath devoured him; and we see what his dreams are.'
All the day they wrest my words, Concerning me all their thoughts `are' for evil,
And He calleth a famine on the land, The whole staff of bread He hath broken. He hath sent before them a man, For a servant hath Joseph been sold.
And he -- he thinketh not so, And his heart reckoneth not so, For -- to destroy `is' in his heart, And to cut off nations not a few.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Genesis 50
Commentary on Genesis 50 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 50
Ge 50:1-26. Mourning for Jacob.
1. 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 Ge 46:4) and imprinting the farewell kiss.
2. Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father, &c.—In ancient Egypt the embalmers were a class by themselves. The process of embalmment consisted in infusing a great quantity of resinous substances into the cavities of the body, after the intestines had been removed, and then a regulated degree of heat was applied to dry up the humors, as well as decompose the tarry materials which had been previously introduced. Thirty days were alloted for the completion of this process; forty more were spent in anointing it with spices; the body, tanned from this operation, being then washed, was wrapped in numerous folds of linen cloth—the joinings of which were fastened with gum, and then it was deposited in a wooden chest made in the form of a human figure.
3. the Egyptians mourned, &c. It was made a period of public mourning, as on the death of a royal personage.
4, 5. Joseph spake unto the house of Pharaoh, &c.—Care was taken to let it be known that the family sepulchre was provided before leaving Canaan and that an oath bound his family to convey the remains thither. Besides, Joseph deemed it right to apply for a special leave of absence; and being unfit, as a mourner, to appear in the royal presence, he made the request through the medium of others.
7-9. Joseph went up to bury his father—a journey of three hundred miles. The funeral cavalcade, composed of the nobility and military, with their equipages, would exhibit an imposing appearance.
10. they came to the threshing-floor of Atad, &c.—"Atad" may be taken as a common noun, signifying "the plain of the thorn bushes." It was on the border between Egypt and Canaan; and as the last opportunity of indulging grief was always the most violent, the Egyptians made a prolonged halt at this spot, while the family of Jacob probably proceeded by themselves to the place of sepulture.
15-21. When Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, &c.—Joseph was deeply affected by this communication. He gave them the strongest assurances of his forgiveness and thereby gave both a beautiful trait of his own pious character, as well as appeared an eminent type of the Saviour.
22, 23. Joseph dwelt in Egypt—He lived eighty years after his elevation to the chief power [see on Ge 41:46] witnessing a great increase in the prosperity of the kingdom, and also of his own family and kindred—the infant Church of God.
24. 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].
26. and they embalmed him—[See on Ge 50:2]. His funeral would be conducted in the highest style of Egyptian magnificence and his mummied corpse carefully preserved till the Exodus.