Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 50:9
And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company.
9. chariots and horsemen ] A strange element in a burial procession, and one which it would be hard to illustrate from the records of Egypt. Possibly, we are intended to consider them in the light of a guard for the protection of the procession travelling into Canaan.
On “chariots” and “horses” in Egypt, see Gen 47:17.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen,…. Which was done both for the sake of honour and grandeur, and for safety and defence, should they be attacked by robbers in the deserts, or opposed by the Canaanites, and be refused the use of the cave of Machpelah, and the right to it disputed:
and it was a very great company; both for quantity and quality; the attendants at this funeral were very numerous, and many of them great personages, and upon the whole was a very honourable company, as the word k signifies, and made a very great figure and grand appearance:
or a very great army l, consisting of chariots and horsemen fit for war; if there should be any occasion for it: and the Jews m pretend that Esau came out with a large army, and met Joseph at the cave of Machpelah, and endeavoured to hinder the burial of Jacob there, where he lost his life, having his head struck off with the sword of Chushim, the son of Dan: some say it was Zepho, the grandson of Esau, with the sons of Esau, that made the disturbance there, on which a battle ensued, in which Joseph was the conqueror, and Zepho was taken captive,
[See comments on Ge 36:11], the Jews n give us the order and manner of the above procession thus; first Joseph, next the servants of Pharaoh, or the princes, then the elders of the court of Pharaoh, then all the elders of the land of Egypt, then the whole house of Joseph, next to them the brethren of Joseph, who were followed by their eldest sons, and after them were the chariots, and last of all the horses.
k “honorabilis”; so Abendana. l “exercitus ille”; Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius, Schmidt. m T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 13. 1. Targum Jon. in ver. 13. Pirke Eliezer, c. 39. Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 5. 1. n R. Bechai apud Hottinger. Smegma, c. 8. p. 381.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(9) A very great company.Heb., camp, the word following immediately upon the mention of the chariots and horsemen which went as the escort of the elders. These were the chief officers of Pharaohs household, and also of the districts into which Egypt was divided, of which each had its separate governor. Of the Israelites only the men of rank, Jacobs own sons, and the officers of his house took part in the funeral procession, while their little onesHeb., their tafs, translated here in the LXX. their clans, and signifying the great body of their dependentsremained with their cattle in the land of Goshen.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9. Chariots and horsemen For protection and defence . So large and solemn a procession required a military escort in their long march through the desert .
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Gen 50:9 And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company.
Ver. 9. A very great company. ] This was for the honour of Jacob at his death, whose greatest care had been to honour God in his whole life.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
chariots: Gen 41:43, Gen 46:29, Exo 14:7, Exo 14:17, Exo 14:28, 2Ki 18:24, Son 1:9, Act 8:2