Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 50:22

And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his father’s house: and Joseph lived a hundred and ten years.

22 26. Death of Joseph

22. an hundred and ten years ] See Jos 24:29. Attention has been called to passages in Egyptian records, in which this age is described as the ideal span of life.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Gen 50:22-26

Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you

Dying Joseph:

I.

SATISFIED WITH THE GOODNESS OF THE LORD.

II. FULL OF FAITH.

1. Sure of Gods covenant.

2. Superior to the world.

3. The possessor of immortality. (T. H. Leale.)

The last days of Joseph:

I. THE REMOTE CONSEQUENCES OF SIN (Gen 50:15-17). To fear God and keep His commandments, always, is the only safe way and sure way for the soul. Men are peopling their future with calamity when they go one step out of the right path.

II. The last days of Joseph were an illustration of THE MYSTERIES OF GODS PROVIDENCE (Gen 50:20). The strange problems of human history should not cause us to lose faith. Behind the web into which so much that seems chaotic and unintelligible is being wrought, God sits wise to purpose and almighty to accomplish; and when His work is done, the assenting acclaim of the universe will proclaim, Just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of Saints. Morbid views of life are unwarranted. What God pleases is best, and what God pleases is sure to come to pass.

III. Very noticeable also is THE FAITH WHICH COMFORTED THE LAST DAYS OF JOSEPH (Gen 50:24). He saw already the blooming fields and laden vineyards which his descendants were to inherit, and he took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence. That same sort of faith has a place and power among men now. Outlook and confidence are not the peculiar privileges of any one age. The victories of faith are world-wide and world-old.

IV. Notice also some INCIDENTAL TEACHINGS of this passage.

1. The last days of Joseph were the natural result of his first days. He began right.

2. Righteousness pays in the long run. Men who are tempted by the speciousness of strong temptation do well to listen to the Saviours question What shall it profit? Gods pay-days may be in the future, but He pays well when the time of reckoning comes.

3. What power there is in a good life. (E. S. Atwood.)

The Israelites grave in a foreign land:

I. THE LIFE OF JOSEPH.

1. Its outward circumstances.

(1) Chequered with misfortune. It is the law of our humanity, as that of Christ, that we must be perfected through suffering. And he who has not discerned the Divine sacredness of sorrow, and the profound meaning which is concealed in pain, has yet to learn what life is. The Cross, manifested as the necessity of the highest life, alone interprets it.

(2) Besides this, obloquy was part of Josephs portion. His brethren, even his father, counted him a vain dreamer, full of proud imaginings. He languished long in a dungeon with a stain upon his character. He was subjected to almost all the bitterness which changes the milk of kindly feelings into gall; to Potiphars fickleness, to slander, to fraternal envy, to the ingratitude of friendship in the neglect of the chief butler, who left his prison and straightway forgot his benefactor. Out of all which a simple lesson arises, Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils. Yet that may be over-stated. Nothing chills the heart like universal distrust. Nothing freezes the genial current of the soul so much as doubts of human nature. Human goodness is no dream. Surely we have met unselfishness, and love, and honour among men. Surely we have seen, and not in dreams, pure benevolence beaming from human countenances. Surely we have met with integrity that the worlds wealth could not bribe, and attachment which might bear the test of any sacrifice. It is not so much the depravity as the frailty of men, that makes it impossible to count on them.

(3) Success, besides, marked the career of Joseph. Let us not take half views of men and things. The woof of life is dark; that we granted, but it is shot through a web of brightness. Accordingly, in Josephs case, even in his worst days, you find a kind of balance, to be weighed against his sorrows. The doctrine of compensation is found through all. Amidst the schemings of his brothers envy he had his fathers love. In his slavery he had some recompense in feeling that he was gradually winning his masters confidence. In his dungeon he possessed the consciousness of innocence, and the grateful respect of his fellow prisoners.

2. The spirit of Josephs inner life.

(1) Forgiveness. The Christian spirit before the Christian times.

(2) Simplicity of character. He bore a simple, unsophisticated heart amidst the pomp of an Egyptian court.

(3) Benevolence. This was manifested in the generosity with which he entertained his brethren, and in the discriminating tenderness with which he provided his best beloved brothers feast with extraordinary delicacies.

II. THE DEATH OF JOSEPH WAS IN ACCORDANCE WITH HIS LIFE.

1. The funeral was a homage paid to goodness. Little is said in the text of Josephs funeral. To know what it was, we must turn to the earlier part of the chapter, where that of Jacob is mentioned. A mourning of seventy days; a funeral whose imposing greatness astonished the Canaanites, they said, This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians. Seventy days were the time, or nearly so, fixed by custom for a royal funeral; and Jacob was so honoured, not for his own sake, but because he was Josephs father. We cannot suppose that Josephs own obsequies were on a scale less grand. Now, weigh what is implied in this. This was not the homage paid to talent, nor to wealth, nor to birth. Joseph was a foreign slave, raised to eminence by the simple power of goodness. Every man in Egypt felt, at his death, that he had lost a friend. There were thousands whose tears would fall when they recounted the preservation of lives dear to them in the years of famine, and felt that they owed those lives to Joseph. Grateful Egypt mourned the good foreigner; and, for once, the honours of this world were given to the graces of another.

2. We collect from this, besides, a hint of the resurrection of the body. The Egyptian mode of sepulture was embalming; and the Hebrews, too, attached much importance to the body after death. Joseph commanded his countrymen to preserve his bones to take away with them. In this we detect that unmistakable human craving, not only for immortality, but immortality associated with a form. The opposite to spirituality is not materialism, but sin. The form of matter does not degrade. For what is this world itself but the form of Deity, whereby the manifoldness of His mind and beauty manifests, and where in it clothes itself? It is idle to say that spirit can exist apart from form. We do not know that it can. Perhaps even the Eternal Himself is more closely bound to His works than our philosophical systems have conceived. Perhaps matter is only a mode of thought. At all events, all that we know or can know of mind exists in union with form. The resurrection of the body is the Christian verity, which meets and satisfies those cravings of the ancient Egyptian mind, that expressed themselves in the process of embalming, and the religious reverence felt for the very bones of the departed by the Hebrews. Finally, in the last will and testament of Joseph we find faith. He commanded his brethren, and through them his nation, to carry his bones with them when they migrated to Canaan. In the Epistle to the Hebrews that is reckoned an evidence of faith. By faith Joseph gave commandment concerning his bones. How did he know that his people would ever quit Egypt? We reply, by faith. Not faith in a written word, for Joseph had no Bible; rather, faith in that conviction of his own heart which is itself the substantial evidence of faith. For religious faith ever dreams of something higher, more beautiful, more perfect, than the state of things with which it feels itself surrounded. Ever, a day future lies before it; the evidence for which is its own hope. (F. W. Robertson, M. A.)

Comfort from the thought of the eternity of God:

These words bring before us the contrast between the mortality of men and the eternity of God. They die, but He abides the King eternal, immortal, the only wise God. Now this truth is full of comfort, on the one hand, to the dying servant of God, and, on the other, to the bereaved who are called to mourn his loss.

1. It is full of comfort to the dying, for whatever of good he has done in the world shall not be lost when he is gone. In the words of the appropriate inscription on the monument to the Wesleys in Westminster Abbey, God buries the workers, but He carries on the work. The sower may die, but the seed which fell from his hands matures into a harvest which is reaped by others, and becomes in its turn the food of multitudes and the germ of many harvests more, I stood once on a Highland hill in my native land, and marked a spot upon the landscape greener than all else around. When I inquired into the reason, I learned that for many, many years there had been a village there, and that the gardens of the villagers so long under cultivation kept unwonted verdure still. So, through the operations of Gods grace, the earth is greener where His servants have been at work, though the servants themselves have long since passed away. The operations of grace, like those of Nature, go on after men have died, because God lives to maintain them, and nothing done for Him is ever allowed by Him to come to nothing. So when we are called to leave the earth, the work in which we delighted shall not be lost. We die, but God lives; and we may he sure that under His care it will flourish.

2. Then what consolation comes from the eternity of God to those who are bereaved! Look at the 90th Psalm. It was written by Moses in the wilderness, when he was depressed by the death of those who had reached mans estate when he led them out of Egypt. There came a time when he was left wellnigh alone of all his generation; and then he took his comfort out of the permanence of God, singing, Lord Thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations; from everlasting to everlasting Thou art God, and by that he was upheld. We see the same thing in Davids case; for not far from the close of his life, and when many of his early companions had gone into the silent land, he wrote the 18th Psalm, in which he said, The Lord liveth, and blessed be my Rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted. Yes, the Lord liveth, therefore let us not refuse to be comforted when dear ones are taken from our side. He can sustain us and He will. He is as near us as He was when they were with us, and they were but the agents whom He used for our welfare. But He is not tied to any instrumentality, and He can guide, uphold, and bless by one as well as by another. He takes away the earthly prop that we may learn to lean the more thoroughly on Himself. He will surely visit us; yea, He will be ever with us, and when our death-hour comes we shall be with Him. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)

All die, but Gods work proceeds

I. THAT THE MOST DISTINGUISHED SERVANTS OF GOD MUST DIE. Even the Great Master Himself died.

II. THAT THOUGH THEY DIE, THE CAUSE IN WHICH THEY WERE ENGAGED WILL MOVE ON. (R. Stodhart.)

The death of Joseph:

I. HIS BODILY FRAILTY. I die.

1. Not all his honours and dignities can exempt him. The princely robe must be exchanged for the winding-sheet.

2. Not all his eminent piety can buy him off. It is the common lot. No exception to this rule.

3. Will you not remember this? Is it wise to forget it, or try to forget. The one thing thats certain in your earthly history. Ought it to be crowded out by a multitude utterly uncertain? There is nothing else I can foresee. I cannot tell how long you will live. I cannot tell whether rich or poor, strong or weak, joyful or sorrowful. No, I cannot discern anything of the complexion of your course. But this I know, that your course will have an end. And that the day, the hour will come, when (if syllable anything) you will say, I die. That day–dont let it take you by surprise. Dont leave the preparation for death until death comes. But live habitually prepared. And see whether it is not possible to triumph over death.

II. HIS ABOUNDING FAITH.

1. See his calmness in prospect of departure. I die! Thats all he has to say about it. No fears–no doubts–of any kind whatever. No vain regrets that his life come to an end. No painful forebodings of what may follow. It is not everyone can meet the last messenger like that. But it is possible to do so. His father Jacob did the same.

2. The consolation he gives those he leaves. I die, but God will surely visit. Your earthly friend may be taken–your heavenly not forsake you. Nay l more than this–He will bring you out of this land, unto the land which He sware to, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Nearly three hundred years had passed away since this oath first uttered. More than one hundred must still pass before the time for its fulfilment. How it will be fulfilled Joseph does not know. But fulfilled it must be, for God had spoken it. Mark, brethren, this triumphant faith. My bones (says this dying man) shall not rest in Egypt. You may put them in sarcophagus–but label it Passenger to Canaan. For when the people go to the promised land, take it with them. Where they go, I will go–where they rest, I will rest. And there will I be buried!

3. I call that abounding faith. So the apostle seems to think it, in Epistle to Hebrews. For he gives it a niche in that temple of faith, in chap. 11. By the side of Abel, and Noah, and Enoch–Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob. Figure of Joseph, with this inscription, By faith Joseph. And was this faith a mere delusion?

III. A WORD OF APPLICATION.

1. Would not such faith be precious to you? Would it not be pleasant to be able to say, I die! without single fear. And to say to those we leave behind, God will surely?

2. Are there no precious promises for you? You are a sinner, I know–If we confess our sins. The wages of sin is death. Gift of God is eternal life. Accept these promises–go and plead them. And all fear of death taken away–Have a desire. I know you cannot take all your loved ones with you. And you may have many a fear on their behalf. Be careful for nothing. Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them. Widows trust.

3. Is there not precious confirmation of these? Ay! more precious than any Joseph ever knew. He knew there should be seed of Abraham, blessing to world–He saw bleeding lamb, emblem. But we can say the seed of Abraham has come–Great Sacrifice offered. Christ has died. How all the precious promises sealed with precious blood. He that spared not. (F. Tucker, B. A.)

Josephs dying assurance to his brethren:

I. THE REFLECTION WHICH JOSEPH MAKES UPON HIS PRESENT CIRCUMSTANCES. I die, or am dying.

II. THE ASSURANCE HE GIVES THEM, THAT GOD WOULD VISIT THEM.

III. The further assurance he gives them, THAT GOD WOULD BRING THEM INTO THE LAND OF CANAAN.

Application:

I. To aged Christians.

1. Frequently to think and speak of dying.

2. Reflect that God will visit and take care of your posterity when you are gone.

3. Remind your posterity of this, for their encouragement, when you are dying and leaving the world, that God will surely visit them.

II. To those descendants of good men, who are in the prime, or middle of their days.

1. Encourage yourselves with this thought, that God will surely visit you when your parents and friends die.

2. Pray earnestly for His visits.

3. Be prepared to receive His visits. (3. Often.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 22. Joseph dwelt in Egypt] Continued in Egypt after his return from Canaan till his death; he, and his father’s house-all the descendants of Israel, till the exodus or departure under the direction of Moses and Aaron, which was one hundred and forty-four years after.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

22, 23. Joseph dwelt in EgyptHelived eighty years after his elevation to the chief power [see on Ge41:46] witnessing a great increase in the prosperity of thekingdom, and also of his own family and kindredthe infant Churchof God.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his father’s house,…. Comfortably, quietly, and in great prosperity, not only he, but his brethren and their families, as long as he lived:

and Joseph lived one hundred and ten years; and all but seventeen of them in Egypt, for at that age it was when he was brought thither: thirteen years he lived in Potiphar’s house, and in prison, for he was thirty years of age when he was brought to Pharaoh, and stood before him, and fourscore years he lived in the greatest honour and prosperity that a man could well wish for.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Death of Joseph. – Joseph lived to see the commencement of the fulfilment of his father’s blessing. Having reached the age of 110, he saw Ephraim’s “ sons of the third link, ” i.e., of great-grandsons, consequently great-great-grandsons. descendants in the third generation are expressly distinguished from “children’s children” or grandsons in Exo 34:7. There is no practical difficulty in the way of this explanation, the only one which the language will allow. As Joseph’s two sons were born before he was 37 years old (Gen 41:50), and Ephraim therefore was born, at the latest, in his 36th year, and possibly in his 34th, since Joseph was married in his 31st year, he might have had grandsons by the time he was 56 or 60 years old, and great-grandsons when he was from 78 to 85, so that great-great-grandsons might have been born when he was 100 or 110 years old. To regard the “sons of the third generation” as children in the third generation (great-grandsons of Joseph and grandsons of Ephraim), as many commentators do, as though the construct stood for the absolute, is evidently opposed to the context, since it is stated immediately afterwards, that sons of Machir, the son of Manasseh, i.e., great-grandsons, were also born upon his knees, i.e., so that he could take them also upon his knees and show them his paternal love. There is no reason for thinking of adoption in connection with these words. And if Joseph lived to see only the great-grandsons of Ephraim as well as of Manasseh, it is difficult to imagine why the same expression should not be applied to the grandchildren of Manasseh, as to the descendants of Ephraim.

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

      22 And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his father’s house: and Joseph lived an hundred and ten years.   23 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 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 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 So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

      Here is, I. The prolonging of Joseph’s life in Egypt: he lived to be a hundred and ten years old, v. 22. Having honoured his father, his days were long in the land which, for the present, God had given him; and it was a great mercy to his relations that God continued him so long, a support and comfort to them.

      II. The building up of Joseph’s family: he lived to see his great-grand-children by both his sons (v. 23), and probably he saw his two sons solemnly owned as heads of distinct tribes, equal to any of his brethren. It contributes much to the comfort of aged parents if they see their posterity in a flourishing condition, especially if with it they see peace upon Israel, Ps. cxxviii. 6.

      III. The last will and testament of Joseph published in the presence of his brethren, when he saw his death approaching. Those that were properly his brethren perhaps were some of them dead before him, as several of them were older than he; but to those of them who yet survived, and to the sons of those who were gone, who stood up in their fathers’ stead, he said this. 1. He comforted them with the assurance of their return to Canaan in due time: I die, but God will surely visit you, v. 24. To this purport Jacob had spoken to him, ch. xlviii. 21. Thus must we comfort others with the same comforts with which we ourselves have been comforted of God, and encourage them to rest on those promises which have been our support. Joseph was, under God, both the protector and the benefactor of his brethren; and what would become of them now that he was dying? Why, let this be their comfort, God will surely visit you. Note, God’s gracious visits will serve to make up the loss of our best friends. They die; but we may live, and live comfortably, if we have the favour and presence of God with us. He bids them be confident: God will bring you out of this land, and therefore, (1.) They must not hope to settle there, nor look upon it as their rest for ever; they must set their hearts upon the land of promise, and call that their home. (2.) They must not fear sinking, and being ruined there; probably he foresaw the ill usage they would meet with there after his death, and therefore gives them this word of encouragement: “God will bring you in triumph out of this land at last.” Herein he has an eye to the promise, Gen 15:13; Gen 15:14, and, in God’s name, assures them of the performance of it. 2. For a confession of his own faith, and a confirmation of theirs, he charges them to keep him unburied till that day, that glorious day, should come, when they should be settled in the land of promise, v. 25. He makes them promise him with an oath that they would bury him in Canaan. In Egypt they buried their great men very honourably and with abundance of pomp; but Joseph prefers a significant burial in Canaan, and that deferred too almost 200 years, before a magnificent one in Egypt. Thus Joseph, by faith in the doctrine of the resurrection and the promise of Canaan, gave commandment concerning his bones, Heb. xi. 22. He dies in Egypt; but lays his bones at stake that God will surely visit Israel, and bring them to Canaan.

      IV. The death of Joseph, and the reservation of his body for a burial in Canaan, v. 26. He was put in a coffin in Egypt, but not buried till his children had received their inheritance in Canaan, Josh. xxiv. 32. Note, 1. If the separate soul, at death, do but return to its rest with God, the matter is not great though the deserted body find not at all, or not quickly, its rest in the grave. 2. Yet care ought to be taken of the dead bodies of the saints, in the belief of their resurrection; for there is a covenant with the dust, which shall be remembered, and a commandment is given concerning the bones.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

Verses 22-26:

Joseph lived eighty years following his elevation as Egypt’s second in command. The Record does not say if he served in this capacity all this time. However, it is likely that he did – at least so long as his health permitted.

Joseph enjoyed a fruitful, happy life. He saw Ephraim’s children “of the third generation.” Ephraim must have been born before Joseph’s thirty-seventh year, for he was presented to Jacob on his arrival in Egypt. Thus, at least 63 years intervened before Joseph’s death. This would allow for as much as four generations, if Ephraim married by age eighteen.

Manasseh’s grandsons were adopted into Joseph’s family, as well. At the age of 110, Joseph felt death approaching. He gathered his brethren about him for final instructions. Joseph had lived a long, fruitful life. He had received Egypt’s high honors. But his last. act was to renounce Egypt, and remain identified with the Chosen Nation. By faith he knew God would return Israel to the Land He had promised their ancestors. He wanted to be identified with Land and the People, even in death. He could have enjoyed a place of honor in Egyptian history. As befitted royalty he could have been buried in an impressive tomb with monuments erected in his honor. But he chose instead to renounce earthly honors for heavenly gain.

Israel’s elders must promise to carry with them Joseph’s bones when they left Egypt for the Land of Promise. When this solemn promise was ratified, Joseph died peacefully. His body was embalmed, but not buried. The coffin remained readily available for removal to the Land of Promise. Over three hundred years later, the mummy case bearing Joseph’s remains were carried to Canaan, where they were solemnly buried in the tomb in Shechem (Jos 24:32).

The closing words of Genesis reflect the “horror of great darkness” which fell upon Israel, as Abraham saw in the prophetic vision of his seed (Ge 15:12). Centuries of silence fell, as the Chosen Family matured into a nation in Egypt. Though God was silent, He was not idle during this time. And in His own good time, He moved to restore the Nation to their Land.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

22. And Joseph dwelt in Egypt. It is not without reason that Moses relates how long Joseph lived, because the length of the time shows the more clearly his unfailing constancy: for although he is raised to great honor and power among she Egyptians, he still is closely united with his father’s house. Hence it is easy to conjecture, that he gradually took his leave of the treasures of the court, because he thought there was nothing better for him to do than to hold them in contempt, lest earthly dignity should separate him from the kingdom of God. He had before spurned all the allurements which might have occupied his mind in Egypt: he now counts it necessary to proceed further, that, laying aside his honor, he may descend to an ignoble condition, and wean his own sons from the hope of succeeding to his worldly rank. We know how anxiously others labor, both that they themselves may not be reduced in circumstances, and that they may leave their fortune entire to their posterity: but Joseph, during sixty years, employed all his efforts to bring himself and his children into a state of submission, lest his earthly greatness should alienate them from the little flock of the Lord. In short, he imitated the serpents, who cast off their exuviae, that, being stripped of their old age, they may gather new strength. He sees the children of his own grandchildren; why does not his solicitude to provide for them increase, as his children increase? Yet he has so little regard for worldly rank or opulence, that he would rather see them devoted to a pastoral life, and be despised by the Egyptians, if only they might be reckoned in the family of Israel. Besides, in a numerous offspring during his own life, the Lord afforded him some taste of his benediction, from which he might conceive the hope of future deliverance: for, among so many temptations, it was necessary for him to be encouraged and sustained, lest he should sink under them.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

CRITICAL NOTES.

Gen. 50:23. Of the third generation.] Either sons belonging to, or sons of, the third generation. If the former, then his (Josephs) great,if the latter, his great-great-grandchildren. (Alford.)Were brought up upon Josephs knees.] The meaning is, that they were placed upon his knees, when new-born, for his recognition and blessing (Gen. 30:3).

Gen. 50:25. Ye shall carry up my bones from hence.] The record of his burial is preserved (Exo. 13:19; Jos. 24:32). It was at Shechem.

Gen. 50:26. He was put in a coffin in Egypt] The mummy of Joseph was put, as was the duty of the embalmers, in a chest of wood, such as may be seen in our museums to this day. (Alford.)

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Gen. 50:22-26

DYING JOSEPH

I. Satisfied with the goodness of the Lord. He had his misfortunes, his days of evil; but they were the consequences of his integrity, not of his sin. The evil report carried to his father, though prompted by a sense of duty, was the occasion of his slavery. His invincible purity was the cause of his imprisonment. Yet his career was, on the whole marked by success. The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man. For eighty years he lived as prime minister of Egypt, and died at the age of an hundred and ten years. He saw Ephraims children of the third generation: the children also of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were brought up upon Josephs knees. He had seen the goodness of the Lord in a long life, an honoured old age, and a prosperous family. The morning of his life was clouded, but the clouds had passed away, and his evening sky is pure.

II. Full of faith. He was one of those heroes of faith commended in Hebrews 11. His faith made him,

1. Sure of Gods Covenant. 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. (Gen. 50:24.) But, how did Joseph know that his people would ever quit Egypt? We answer, by faith. He trusted in God. He had in his soul the sure conviction of things not seen. Faith looks to the future, but, at the same time, gives to that future a substantial existence; so that the soul is conscious of a higher and more perfect state of things than that which surrounds it here. Joseph was sure of that covenant which promised deliverance and the possession of the good land. Faith made him,

2. Superior to the world. Joseph was an illustration of St. Pauls words, We walk by faith, not by sight. His dying words show that, after all, he was very little at home in Egypt, though, to all outward appearance, he was one of its people. He bore an Egyptian namea high sounding title. He married an Egyptian woman of rank. But he was still an Israelite at heart, with all the convictions, aims, and hopes of his nation. The pomp and state in which he lived afforded him no true rest for his heart and soul. Prime Minister of Egypt as he was, his last words open a window in his soul, and declare how little he belonged to that state of things in which he had been content to live. He was content to feel and know, that like his fathers, he was but a stranger and a sojourner. Dying, he said, Carry up my bones from hence. His faith made him superior to the world in which he lived and moved. He passed the time of his sojourning there as an alien; for his true home and all his desire was the Promised Land. And faith ought to produce such effects in us. The believer is not of this world. His true home is on high. His life is hid with Christ in God. The centre of his interest is changed from earth to heaven. His faith also made him,

3. The possessor of immortality. His commandment concerning his bones may have been dictated by a natural instinct. We cherish a feeling that, somehow, after death, our bodies still remain part of ourselves. Our ideas of existence are all associated with material substance and form. Joseph may also have been influenced by a natural desire that his grave should not be among strangers, but among his own kindred. When old Barzillai was offered by the king to spend the remnant of his age in the palace at Jerusalem, he saidLet thy servant, I pray thee, turn back again, that I may die in mine own city, and be buried by the grave of my father and my mother. (2Sa. 19:37.) But whatever other motives Joseph had, this is certain, that he believed in Gods covenant promise and claimed his share in it. God had proclaimed Himself to the patriarchs as their God. His covenant relation to them implied a life beyond the grave. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. Men who stand so with God can never really die. The soul that has once looked up, by faith, into the face of its unseen Father, cannot be left in the grave. The patriarchs still exist. They are before God, and beneath His eye. While they were living here they may have wandered far in sin, darkness, and error. They may have served other gods, as Abraham did before he was called to the life of faith; but the one true God, who is the Judge of all, is their God now. Joseph felt that within him which triumphed over death. All was failing him on earth, but his faith held on to God. When his brethren stood around his dying bed, they could not help fearing that when this powerful prince was gone, disaster must fall upon their people. But the dying man lays firm hold upon the promise, that word of God which cannot pass away. I die, he says, but God will surely visit you. He is not going to die. He lives on for ever to be the portion and strength of his people when their heart and flesh fail.

SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES

Gen. 50:22-23. If childrens children are the glory of old men, they were so in a very eminent degree to Joseph, who was assured that the blessings of Divine goodness should descend upon his head in the persons of his descendants.(Bush.)

Gen. 50:24. It is clear that when Joseph was dying, his thoughts were not engrossed by his own concerns, although he was on the borders of the everlasting world. His mind was at perfect ease concerning his own state; but he did what he could to console the hearts of his brethren, and of all his fathers house, whom his death was depriving of their last earthly friend. He does not refer them to any new discoveries made to himself, but to the well-known promise made to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. When there was no written word of God, His afflicted people found a sufficient ground for their faith and hope in the sure promises handed down from father to son. How superior are our privileges, who enjoy that precious volume filled with promises as the heaven is with stars.(Bush.)

That is the best thought of death, to remember the promise of God and His gracious redemption.(Lange).

Gen. 50:25. Joseph saw, by that creative faith, his family in prosperity, even in affluence; but he felt that this was not their rest. A higher life than that of affluence, a nobler destiny than that of stagnant rest, there must be for them in the future; else all the anticipations of a purer earth, and a holier world, which imagination bodied forth within his soul, were empty dreams, not the intuitions of Gods Spirit. It was this idea of perfection, which was the substance of things hoped for, that carried him far beyond the period of his own death, and made him feel himself a partaker of his nations blessed future. They who have lived as Joseph lived, just in proportion to their purity and unselfishness, must believe in immortality. They cannot but believe it. The eternal existence is already pulsing in their veins; the life of trust and high hope, and sublime longings after perfection, with which the decay of the frame has nothing at all to do. That is goneyesbut it was not that life in which they lived; and when it finished, what had that ruin to do with the destruction of the immortal? Heaven begun is the living proof that makes the heaven to come credible. Christ in you is the hope of glory.(Robertson).

Gen. 50:26. We collect from this a hint of the resurrection of the body. The Egyptian mode of sepulture was by embalming; and the Hebrews, too, attached much importance to the body after death. Joseph commanded his countrymen to preserve his bones to take away with them. In this we detect that unmistakable human craving, not only for immortality, but immortality associated with a form. The Egyptians had a kind of feeling, that while the mummy lasted, the man had not yet perished from earth. Christianity does not disappoint, but rather meets that feeling. It grants to the materialist, by the doctrine of the resurrection of the body, that future life shall be associated with a material form. It grants to the spiritualist all he ought to wish, that the spirit shall be free from evil. For it is a mistake of ultra spiritualism to connect degradation with the thought of a risen body; or to suppose that a mind, unbound by the limitations of space, is a more spiritual idea of resurrection than the other. The opposite to spirituality is not materialism, but sin; the form of matter does not degrade.(Robertson).

It all ends with the coffin, the mourning for the dead, the funeral procession, and the glance into the future life. The age of promise is over; there follows now a silent chasm of four hundred years, until out of the rushes of the Nile there is lifted up a weeping infant in a little reed-formed ark. The age of law begins, which endures for fifteen hundred years. Then in BethlehemEphratah is there born another infant, and with him begins the happy time, the day of light, and quickening grace.(Krummacher.)

The sacred writer here takes leave of the chosen family, and closes the Bible of the sons of Israel. It is truly a wonderful book. It lifts the veil of mystery that hangs over the present condition of the human race. It records the origin and fall of man, and thus explains the co-existence of moral evil and a moral sense, and the hereditary memory of God and judgment in the soul of man. It gradually unfolds the purpose and method of grace through a deliverer who is successively announced the seed of the woman, of Shem, of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Judah. So much of this plan of mercy is revealed from time to time to the human race as comports with the progress they have made in the education of the intellectual, moral, and active faculties. This only authentic epitome of primeval history is worthy of the constant study of intelligent and responsible man.(Murphy.)

THE END.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

DEATH OF JOSEPH, Gen 50:22-26.

22. Hundred and ten years Compare the same age of Joshua when he died . Jos 24:29.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his father’s house, and Joseph lived one hundred and ten years.’

There is no word of condemnation here. For the time dwelling in Egypt was right. In his own way Joseph and his family were witnesses there of the power and glory of their God.

“His father” s house.’ This covers all who came down to Egypt both family and retainers and all who have since been born and remained within the community. It is composed of some tens of thousdands of people.

“One hundred and ten years.” This was seen by the Egyptians as the length of a perfect life. It may thus be a round number indicating the fullness of Joseph’s life.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The Death of Joseph Gen 50:22-26 tells us about the final prophecy and death of Joseph. When the Scriptures tell us that a patriarch dies in a ripe old age in peace, it implies that this person fulfilled the destiny that God had given him. I believe that we can see this in epilogues to the genealogies of the lives of Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and in the life of Joseph.

Joseph says, “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.” Thus, the book of Genesis ends with a thread of hope that allows us to follow the redemptive thread linking us to the book of Exodus.

Gen 50:25 “ you shall carry up my bones from here” Scripture References – Note other passages referring to this event:

Exo 13:19, “And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he had straitly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you.”

Jos 24:32, “And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of silver: and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph.”

Heb 11:22, “By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones.”

Gen 50:25 Comments – Joseph believed in the words that the Lord spoke to Abraham about the Exodus of Israel coming after four hundred years of affliction (Gen 15:13).

Gen 15:13, “And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.”

Gen 50:26  So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures