Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 50:7
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,
7. all the servants of Pharaoh ] The very ample description of the Egyptian attendants at the funeral of Jacob is evidently intended (cf. Gen 50:3) to impress the Israelite reader with the thought that Jacob, the father of their people, had been buried with royal honours by the Egyptians. “Went up,” cf. Gen 50:5-6 ; Gen 50:9. See Gen 12:6, Gen 42:38, “go down” to Egypt.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 7. The elders of his house] Persons who, by reason of their age, had acquired much experience; and who on this account were deemed the best qualified to conduct the affairs of the king’s household. Similar to these were the [Anglo-Saxon] Eldermen, or Aldermen, among our Saxon ancestors, who were senators and peers of the realm.
The funeral procession of Jacob must have been truly grand. Joseph, his brethren and their descendants, the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders-all the principal men, of the land of Egypt, with chariots and horsemen, must have appeared a very great company indeed. We have seen LORDS, for their greater honour, buried at the public expense; and all the male branches of the royal family, as well as the most eminent men of the nation, join in the funeral procession, as in the case of the late Lord Nelson; but what was all this in comparison of the funeral solemnity now before us? Here was no conqueror, no mighty man of valour, no person of proud descent; here was only a plain man, who had dwelt almost all his life long in tents, without any other subjects than his cattle, and whose kingdom was not of this world. Behold this man honoured by a national mourning, and by a national funeral! It may be said indeed that “all this was done out of respect to Joseph.” Be it so; why was Joseph thus respected? Was it because he had conquered nations, had made his sword drunk with blood, had triumphed over the enemies of Egypt? NO! But because he had saved men alive; because he was the king’s faithful servant, the rich man’s counsellor, and the poor man’s friend. He was a national blessing; and the nation mourns in his affliction, and unites to do him honour.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
All the servants, i.e. a great number of them, as that word is understood, Mat 3:5, and oft elsewhere. For many of them were aged and infirm, and many could not be spared from their attendance at court, or upon their employments, &c.
The servants of Pharaoh were courtiers of an inferior rank;
the elders of his house, the chief officers, and under him governors of his family and councils, who used to reside at or near the court;
and the elders of the land, the great officers civil and military, whose places of habitation and command were dispersed in the several parts of the land.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7-9. Joseph went up to bury hisfathera journey of three hundred miles. The funeral cavalcade,composed of the nobility and military, with their equipages, wouldexhibit an imposing appearance.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Joseph went up to bury his father,…. According to his request; having obtained leave of Pharaoh, and being desirous of paying his last respects, and doing his last office to so dear a parent, with all the honour and decency this service could be done with:
and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh; a great number of them, some must be left to wait upon him; who these were the next words explain:
the elders of his house: his senators and counsellors, his courtiers and principal officers of state:
and all the elders of the land of Egypt; governors of provinces and cities, the chief officers, civil and military; all which was done by the orders of Pharaoh, out of respect to Joseph and his family, and to make the funeral procession grand and honourable.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
7 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 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 And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company. 10 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 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 And his sons did unto him according as he commanded them: 13 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 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.
We have here an account of Jacob’s funeral. Of the funerals of the kings of Judah, usually, no more is said than this, They were buried with their fathers in the city of David: but the funeral of the patriarch Jacob is more largely and fully described, to show how much better God was to him than he expected (he had spoken more than once of dying for grief, and going to the grave bereaved of his children, but, behold, he dies in honour, and is followed to the grave by all his children), and also because his orders concerning his burial were given and observed in faith, and in expectation both of the earthly and of the heavenly Canaan. Now, 1. It was a stately funeral. He was attended to the grave, not only by his own family, but by the courtiers, and all the great men of the kingdom, who, in token of their gratitude to Joseph, showed this respect to his father for his sake, and did him honour at his death. Though the Egyptians had had an antipathy to the Hebrews, and had looked upon them with disdain (ch. xliii. 32), yet now, that they were better acquainted with them, they began to have a respect for them. Good old Jacob had conducted himself so well among them as to gain universal esteem. Note, Professors of religion should endeavour, by wisdom and love, to remove the prejudices which many may have conceived against them because they do not know them. There went abundance of chariots and horsemen, not only to attend them a little way, but to go through with them. Note, The decent solemnities of funerals, according to a man’s situation, are very commendable; and we must not say of them, To what purpose is this waste? See Act 8:2; Luk 7:12. 2. It was a sorrowful funeral (Gen 50:10; Gen 50:11); standers-by took notice of it as a grievous mourning. Note, The death of good men is a great loss to any place, and ought to be greatly lamented. Stephen dies a martyr, and yet devout men make great lamentations for him. The solemn mourning for Jacob gave a name to the place, Abel-Mizraim, the mourning of the Egyptians, which served for a testimony against the next generation of the Egyptians, who oppressed the posterity of this Jacob to whom their ancestors showed such respect.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verses 7-13:
Various monuments and carvings picture the elaborate funeral processions, which honored the royal dead of Egypt. These give some indication of the procession which accompanied the hearse bearing Jacob’s body to its final resting place in Canaan. It was perhaps the longest funeral procession ever made, a distance of some 300 miles.
The text does not give the route taken from Egypt by the funeral train. The procession arrived in Canaan, stopping first on the east of Jordan at the threshing-floor of Atad (lit. buckthorn). The threshing-floor was a large, flat area situated on a hill-top. The exact site indicated in this text is unknown today. Its name was derived either from the owner’s name, Atad; or from an abundant growth of buckthorn nearby. The site was ideal for the large party from Egypt to set up camp.
The party remained at Atad for seven days, which were spent in deep mourning for Jacob. History affirms that the Egyptians were noted for their vehement and public lamentations for the dead. Expressions of grief included loud wailing, chanting funeral dirges, repeating the name of the dead, rending of garments, smiting themselves upon the breast, and tossing dirt and mud on their heads.
The Canaanite inhabitants of the area watched with interest this demonstration of mourning. So impressive was it that they renamed the site Abel-Mizraim (or ebal-mizraim), meaning “the mourning of the Egyptians”.
The funeral train left this temporary camp and proceeded onward to the burial site. There Joseph and his brothers laid their father to rest as he had instructed, in the cemetery where Leah, Isaac, Rebekah, Abraham, and Sarah were buried.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
7. And Joseph went up. Moses gives a full account of the burial. What he relates concerning the renewed mourning of Joseph and his brethren, as well as of the Egyptians, ought by no means to be established as a rule among ourselves. For we know, that since our flesh has no self government, men commonly exceed bounds both in sorrowing and in rejoicing. The tumultuous glamour, which the inhabitants of the place admired, cannot be excused. And although Joseph had a right end in view, when he fixed the mourning to last through seven successive days, yet this excess was not free from blame. Nevertheless, it was not without reason that the Lord caused this funeral to be thus honorably celebrated: for it was of great consequence that a kind of sublime trophy should be raised, which might transmit to posterity the memory of Jacob’s faith. If he had been buried privately, and in a common manner, his fame would soon have been extinguished; but now, unless men willfully blind themselves, they have continually before their eyes a noble example, which may cherish the hope of the promised inheritance: they perceive, as it were, the standard of that deliverance erected, Which shall take place in the fullness of time. Wherefore, we are not here to consider the honor of the deceased so much as the benefit of the living. Even the Egyptians, not knowing what they do, bear a torch before the Israelites, to teach them to keep the course of their divine calling: the Canaanites do the same, when they distinguish the place by a new name; for hence it came to pass that the knowledge of the covenant of the Lord flourished afresh. (220)
(220) Calvin, in his criticism on Joseph’s conduct with reference to his father’s funeral, seems to bear hard upon the motives of the patriarch. As there is nothing in Joseph’s previous history which is derogatory either to his moral courage or his integrity, it is scarcely justifiable to impute a want of firmness and of straightforwardness to him on this occasion. Is not the concluding portion of Calvin’s remarks a sufficient answer to all that has gone before? And may we not conclude, that the whole of the circumstances of Jacob’s funeral were divinely ordered to perpetuate his memory? — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
7. All the elders of the land The writer dwells with emphasis on the magnificent funeral procession, composed of the various officers of the Egyptian court, and the entire house of Israel excepting the little children, (Gen 50:8,) probably the seventy whose names are given in chap . 46 .
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jacob is Buried in Canaan
v. 7. 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, v. 8. and all the house of Joseph, v. 9. And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen; and it was a very great company, v. 10. And they came to the threshing-floor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, v. 11. 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 Abelmizraim v. 12. And his sons did unto him v. 13. 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 burying-place of Ephron, the Hittite, before Mamre. v. 14. 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.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Gen 50:7. All the servants of Pharaoh All may be put here, as Mat 3:5 for a great number; the major part; all the principal officers of the court. The elders of his house, i.e.. the persons of first dignity, a title of honour used, 2
Sam. Gen 12:17. and so in various languages, senator, senior, signior, signeur, are used as titles of distinction: so our first Saxon ancestors gave the name ealder-man to a governor of a province, as we do now to a magistrate of a city. Thus the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of AEgypt, signify, persons of the first authority and dignity, both in court and country. With these went all the family of Jacob, and a numerous cavalcade of chariots and horsemen, Gen 12:9 a grand procession to travel so great a distance; for it was near three hundred miles. The splendor and magnificence of our patriarch’s funeral, says Parker, seems to be without a parallel in history. What hitherto have most affected me in the comparison, were, indeed, the noble obsequies of Marcellus, as Virgil has described them: but how do even these, with all their parade of poetry about them, fall short of the plain and simple narrative before us! for what are the six hundred beds, for which the Roman solemnities, on this occasion, were so famous, in comparison of that national itinerant multitude, which swelled like a flood, and moved like a river;to all Pharaoh’s servants, to the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of AEgypt: i.e.. to the officers of his household, and the deputies of his provinces, with all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father’s house, conducting their solemn sorrow, for near three hundred miles, into a distant country.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Gen 50:7 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,
Ver. 7. And with him went up all the servants. ] That is, most of them, as Mat 3:5 . In doing the patriarch this honour, they stand renowned for thankful men; and such, saith one, are worth their weight in gold. “Blessed be he of the Lord, who leaveth not off his kindness to the living and to the dead.” Rth 2:20 But how base was Bonner, that railed so bitterly against his patron Cromwell, whose creature he had been, after his death; calling him the rankest heretic that ever lived, and that it had been good he had been despatched long ago! a And Cardinal Pool played the unworthy man, in having an intent to take up King Henry VIII’s body at Windsor, and to have burned it. b This the Papists did to Paulus Phagius, a learned German, that died at Cambridge, being sent for over by King Edward VI. And although they never heard him speak – for he died soon after his coming into the realm, having not time either to dispute or preach here – yet they unburied him, and burnt his bones. c Of all birds, we most hate and detest crows; and of all beasts, those called jackals, a kind of foxes in Barbary: because the one digs up the graves and devours the flesh; the other picks out the eyes of the dead. d
a Act. and Mon., 1089.
b Ibid., 1905.
c Ibid., 1789.
d Featly’s Transubstantion Exploded, 219.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Gen 50:7-14
7So Joseph went up to bury his father, and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household and all the elders of the land of Egypt, 8and all the household of Joseph and his brothers and his father’s household; they left only their little ones and their flocks and their herds in the land of Goshen. 9There also went up with him both chariots and horsemen; and it was a very great company. 10When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they lamented there with a very great and sorrowful lamentation; and he observed seven days mourning for his father. 11Now when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a grievous mourning for the Egyptians.” Therefore it was named Abel-mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan. 12Thus his sons did for him as he had charged them; 13for his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre, which Abraham had bought along with the field for a burial site from Ephron the Hittite. 14After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers, and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.
Gen 50:7-8 Gen 50:7-8 show how large a funeral possession went to Canaan.
1. Joseph
2. the servants of Pharaoh
3. the elders of his household
4. the elders of the land of Egypt
5. household of Joseph
6. Joseph’s brothers
7. Jacob’s household
8. a military escort, Gen 50:9
Gen 50:9 implies a military escort. It may also have been Pharaoh’s way to assure the return of his best administrator/advisor.
Gen 50:8 “They left only their little ones and their flocks” This was to assure their return!
“in the land of Goshen” See notes at Gen 45:10; Gen 46:28.
Gen 50:10 “Atad” Literally this is “thorns” (BDB 31). The rabbis say it was a protective hedge. This site is unknown. Jerome says it was located near Jericho. It was the site of a ritual mourning, not necessarily the site of the burial!
The intensity of their grief is described by
1. they lamented there
2. with a very great
3. and mournful
4. lamentation
5. observed seven days
6. note Gen 50:11
“beyond the Jordan” This phrase, “in the region of” (BDB 81 CONSTRUCT BDB 719 I, cf. Gen 50:11), does not determine the east or west bank. It depends on the location of the speaker.
Gen 50:11 This is a play on the word “Abel” (BDB 5 II), which means “meadow” (lit. “grow green grass”), and “Abel” (BDB 5 I), which means “mourning” (AB lists a third option, “watercourse,” p. 376).
Gen 50:12-14 This is a summary statement describing their promise to Jacob.
Gen 50:13 “the cave” This cave is the one referred to in Gen 23:16-20.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
And. Note the Figure of speech Polysyndeton (App-6), emphasizing each party.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
and with him: Gen 14:16