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Gen.50:1. Joseph fell on his father's face, and wept over him, and kissed him. The picture of Joseph mourning his father is inexpressibly touching. “Do you see the tender love of your son? Do you see fiery love? (John Chrysostom, 721). Gen.50:2–3. And Joseph commanded his servants, the doctors, to embalm his father; and the doctors embalmed Israel. And he was forty days old, for so many days are used for embalming, and the Egyptians mourned him for seventy days. Embalming - this specifically Egyptian custom - is performed on the body of Jacob not so much because of his positive will to embalm it, as the rabbis believed, but rather to express respect for him as the father of the first dignitary of Egypt, as well as to protect the body from decay in view of its upcoming transportation to Canaan. Embalming is performed by doctors (Hebrew: ropheim, ἐνταφιασταί, slav.: “buriers”) from among Joseph’s courtiers. According to Herodotus, who described embalming in detail, it was performed by specialists, ταφιχευταί, and had 3 forms, differing in the degree of painstaking work and high cost of materials (the first and most expensive method cost a talent of silver, the second only 50 minutes). The duration of the embalming operation was, according to Diodorus Siculus and Herodotus, from 30 to 70 days; according to the biblical story - 40 days, which, with the addition of 30 other days of mourning (30 days the Jews mourned for Aaron, Num. 20:29, and Moses, Deut. 34:8), are designated as 70 days of mourning over Jacob. Gen.50:4–6. When the days of mourning for him had passed, Joseph spoke to Pharaoh's courtiers, saying: If I have found favor in your sight, then tell Pharaoh this: my father cursed me, saying: behold, I am dying; in my tomb, which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, bury me there. And now I would like to go and bury my father and return. [Joseph's words were told to Pharaoh.] And Pharaoh said, Go and bury your father, as he has cursed you. Due to his personal business and, moreover, being in a state (cf. Esther 4:2) of uncleanness (due to contact with the dead), Joseph does not dare to ask Pharaoh for leave personally, but does this through Pharaoh’s courtiers, informing them (in a free retelling) of Jacob’s will (Gen. 47:29–31) about his burial in Canaan and thereby rejecting the Egyptian suspicion of state treason, very possible given their intensely hostile attitude towards the Hittites of Palestine. Pharaoh allows Joseph to travel to Canaan, but (vv. 7-8), probably not for the sake of the pomp of the funeral procession and out of sheer attention to Joseph’s family grief, but also to guarantee himself against Joseph’s deposition and his possible attempt to remain in Canaan, he sends with him a large convoy and many courtiers, and for the latter purpose he leaves the Jewish children and their livestock in Egypt, which was what the later Pharaoh demanded from Moses and the Jews, oppressor of the Jews (Ex. 10:11). Transporting Jacob's body to Canaan Gen.50:7–9. And Joseph went to bury his father. And all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, went with him, and all the house of Joseph, and his brothers, and his father's house. They left only their children and their flocks and herds in the land of Goshen. Chariots and horsemen also went with him, so that the crowd was very large. The long journey could not be undertaken without a significant armed escort; hence Joseph and his brothers are accompanied not only by the nobles of Pharaoh (v. 7), but also by “chariots and horsemen.” Tradition adds that the caravan actually had an encounter with the descendants of Esau and defeated them. Gen.50:10. And they reached Goren-gaatad by the Jordan and wept there with a great and very strong cry; and Joseph mourned for his father seven days. Due to the fact that the stopping place of the caravan is indicated “on the other side of the Jordan”, beeber hajiarden, i.e. according to the most common biblical usage - on the eastern side of the Jordan (cf. Deut. 1:1; Josh. 2:10), according to Blessed Jerome - this place was called Beth-ogla and was located between Jericho and Jordan. In the biblical text it is called Goren-haatad, translated into Russian as “threshing floor of thorns,” perhaps an area abounding in thorns, atad, cf. Court. 9:14, (from the connection goren with the word Kidon there is a name, in 1 Chron. 13:9 goren-kidon). Thus, the ceremonial funeral cortege with the body of Jacob chose for its journey to Canaan the same roundabout - southeastern route (instead of the direct - southern) that the Jews subsequently entered the land of Canaan under the leadership of Moses and Joshua. At the named place, which, however, was not the burial place of Jacob, Joseph and his companions performed a seven-day lament for Jacob, which some interpreters attribute to the time after Jacob’s burial. The crying continues for 7 days, as it did, for example, during the mourning for Saul (1 Sam. 31:13). Gen.50:11. And the inhabitants of that land, the Canaanites, saw the weeping in Goren-gaatad, and said: Great is this weeping among the Egyptians! Therefore the name of that [place] was called: the lamentation of the Egyptians, which is by the Jordan. The name Abel (in the expression Abel-Mizzaim) is found, like Goren, in several place names, for example, Abe-shittim in the plains of Moab (Num. 33:49), Abel-Beth-Maacah (2 Sam. 20:14, 15), Abel-Meholah (Judges 7:22). Residents of Palestine, naturally, call all members of the caravan Egyptians, without distinguishing Jews from them (tradition imagines the descendants of Ishmael and Cheturra as participating in the lament), but it is possible that only Jacob’s closest relatives and, in general, only Jews accompanied Jacob’s body to the grave in Hebron (v. 13). Gen.50:12–13. And the sons of Jacob did unto him as he commanded them; and his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in a cave in the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field as a property for burial from Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre. The precision with which Joseph and his brothers fulfilled Jacob’s dying testament is noted (Gen. 47:29–30, 49:29). Tradition represents the sons of Jacob surrounding the tomb of Jacob, three on each side (Joseph places Ephraim and Manasseh as surrogates; Levi is also removed from the tomb, probably due to attention to the priesthood that came from him, for whom there were restrictions in mourning). Life 50:14. And Joseph returned to Egypt, himself and his brothers and all those who went with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father. General conclusion to the story of the journey to Canaan Explanation of the brothers with Joseph and his generous forgiveness of their guilt Gen.50:15. And Joseph's brothers saw that their father had died, and they said: What if Joseph hates us and wants to take revenge on us for all the evil that we did to him? After the death of his father, who was the link, mediator and reconciliator between Joseph and his brothers, the latter began to fear that under the favor that Joseph showed them during his father’s life, a secret enmity (Hebrew verb satam) could be hidden, cf. Life 27:41, which now, after the death of his father, can be resolved by Joseph taking revenge on them (Gen. 42:28). Gen.50:16–17. And they sent to Joseph: Your father made a will before his death, saying: So say to Joseph: forgive your brothers their guilt and sin, since they did you harm. And now forgive the guilt of the servants of the God of your father. Joseph cried when they told him this. Not daring to directly appear before Joseph for explanations, his brothers choose representatives from among themselves (according to tradition, Dan and Naphtali - the sons of Bilhah, with whom Joseph was especially close in childhood, according to Gen. 37:2), bring repentance for their crime against Joseph and beg in the name of their father to forgive them. “Look,” notes Saint John Chrysostom, “how they become accusers of themselves, noticing how great the accusatory power of conscience is” (pp. 722–723). Sincerely admitting their guilt, they beg for forgiveness not only for the sake of the memory of their deceased father, but also in the name of the one God they all had, to Whom they were all slaves (a motive, strong in itself, received particular persuasiveness in the country of idolatry - Egypt). Gen.50:18. His brothers themselves came and fell down before him, and said: Behold, we are your servants. Having learned that Joseph was touched by their repentance, the brothers had already come to him and, having completed their repentance, fell on their faces before him, expressing the idea that if previously one of them wanted to remain a slave, now they are all ready to do this. Gen.50:19–21. And Joseph said, Fear not, for I fear God; Behold, you have plotted evil against me; but God turned it into good to do what it is now: to save the lives of a great number of people; So do not be afraid: I will feed you and your children. And he calmed them and spoke according to their hearts. Joseph’s answer repeats the idea he had already expressed when he first revealed it to his brothers (Gen. 45:5, 7), that human evil is powerless to stop the beneficial action of the ways of God’s Providence, which even turns the action of evil will to good consequences. Art. 19 from Hebrew: “Am I instead of God?” - a thought organically connected with the above - Joseph is only an instrument of Providence; can he go against his actions - take revenge (cf. Deut. 32:35). In Russian: “for I fear God” is taken from Gen. 42:18, and can also be brought into connection with that basic idea - as an ancient biblical tradition, essentially running through the entire Bible and very significantly put forward at the end of the book of Genesis. With regard to Joseph’s personality, his answer is also very characteristic of his generosity, submission to the will of God, and special insight into the mystery of God’s ways. “This wondrous man, adorned with all virtues, was so far from even remembering their actions that he was embarrassed by their words” (St. John Chrysostom), and with his heartfelt speech he calmed their hearts. Joseph's dying will and death Gen.50:22–25. And Joseph lived in Egypt, he and his father's house; Joseph lived only one hundred and ten years. And Joseph saw the children of Ephraim until the third generation, and also the sons of Machir the son of Manasseh were born into the lap of Joseph. And Joseph said to his brothers: I am dying, but God will visit you and bring you out of this land to the land about which he swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And Joseph cursed the children of Israel, saying, God will visit you, and take up my bones from here. Concluding remarks about the life of Joseph, to which a significant part of the book is devoted. Genesis. During his lifetime, he saw the third generation of his descendants, and adopted and raised some of them. The last verses of the chapter and the entire book, 24–26, are imbued with Joseph’s living and sublime faith in the great future of Israel - in the removal of this people from Egypt as a free people - for the purpose of establishing the Old Testament Kingdom of God. According to this faith (Heb. 11:22), Joseph, like his father (Gen. 49:29), bequeaths to his brothers - those who have not yet died, and in general to all members of the descendants of Jacob, to remove his bones from Egypt, during the future exit of the Jews from here (it was now, obviously, no longer possible to transport Joseph’s corpse to Canaan: the privileged position of the Jews in Egypt was nearing its end). Moses, indeed, during the exodus of Israel from Egypt, took with him the bones of Joseph (Exodus 13:19), and Joshua buried them in Shechem (Joshua 24:32). Gen.50:26. And Joseph died a hundred and ten years old. And they embalmed him and put him in an ark in Egypt. According to Egyptian custom, Joseph's body was embalmed and placed in a sarcophagus (Heb. arou), usually made of sycamore wood - a resinous acacia. With the death of Joseph, the Jews in Egypt, although set on the path of independent development into a whole people with unique national characteristics, lost the powerful support of their honorable position. Now they faced a bitter life in the “house of slavery” (Ex. 20:2). You might be interested in: