Trekking Genesis

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• Gen 50:4a . . and when the mourning period was over, Joseph spoke to Pharaoh's
court

It's curious that Joseph didn't meet with Pharaoh in person; I mean, after all,
Joseph was second in command over the entire country of Egypt, and certainly
outranked all of Pharaoh's courtiers. It's guessed by some that in the Egypt of
Joseph's day, a dead man's close kin were deemed unfit to approach a Pharaoh.
Whether it was for religious reasons, or just simply customary propriety is
unknown.

• Gen 50:4b-5a . . saying; Do me this kindness, and lay this appeal before
Pharaoh: "My father made me swear, saying; I am about to die. Be sure to bury me
in the grave which I made ready for myself in the land of Canaan."

Apparently some time in the past, prior to his immigration to Egypt, Jacob spent
some time in Abraham's cemetery preparing a spot in it for his own burial so that
his surviving kin only had to take him there-- no muss, no fuss, no money
problems, and no legal hassles. It's a good idea for people to make arrangements
for their own burials rather than leaving it all up to the inconvenience of their kin.

• Gen 50:5b . . Now, therefore, let me go up and bury my father; then I shall
return.

It's quite probable that Joseph's assurance of his return anticipated Pharaoh's
anxiety that Joseph might stay back in the land with his brothers if permitted to
leave the country and thus The Man would lose the services of not only his
kingdom's best cattle ranchers but also the services of an extraordinarily capable
bureaucrat.

• Gen 5:6 . . And Pharaoh said: Go up and bury your father, as he made you
promise on oath.

Pharaoh's choice of words, though inadvertent, were quite appropriate. Travel to
Israel is to go "up" and to leave it is to go down. Israel is biblically regarded as the
top of the mountains. (Isa 2:2-3)

• Gen 50:7-8 . . So Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the
officials of Pharaoh, the senior members of his court, and all of Egypt's dignitaries,
together with all of Joseph's household, his brothers, and his father's household;
only their children, their flocks, and their herds were left in the region of Goshen.

Leaving the children and the flocks back in Egypt was not only a practical
consideration but served to reassure Pharaoh that Joseph and his kin fully
intended to return as he had promised; which sort of reminds me of a scene in
Goodbye Girl when Richard Dreyfuss leaves his guitar behind when he goes to a
new acting job to assure Marsha Mason he'll be back.

That method is common. For example: North Korea's Kim Jong-Un has a number of
his citizens dispatched in foreign countries to earn money for his treasury in a
variety of enterprises. To ensure they don't get ideas about defecting, Kim keeps
their families at home and promises to imprison and/or execute them should his
earners choose never to return.

When people pick up and move; lock, stock, and barrel; you pretty much know they
aren't coming back; which is probably why a later-to-come Pharaoh wouldn't let
Moses go to worship with everything his people possessed. (Ex 10:24)

Precisely why Pharaoh's courtiers, and all of Egypt's dignitaries came along is hard
to understand unless protocol and custom demanded they pay their respects
because of Joseph's rank. Though he wasn't really a home boy, Joseph's marriage
to the daughter of the priest of On, and his Pharaoh-given name of Tsophnath
Pa'neach, made him a naturalized Egyptian; and he was entitled to just as much of
the nation's respect afforded its native sons.

NOTE: I've heard it said that the reason half of us go to funerals is to pay our
respects to people we avoided when they were alive.

• Gen 50:9 . . Chariots, too, and horsemen went up with him; it was a very large
troop.

The unit of fighting men was likely for safeguarding all the dignitaries. Palestine
was a frontier in those days; and a caravan of aristocrats would be a really
tempting target for brigands.
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• Gen 50:10 . .When they came to Gorena ha-Atad, which is beyond the Jordan,
they held there a very great and solemn lamentation; and he observed a mourning
period of seven days for his father.

A geographic location described as "beyond the Jordan" suggests the east side of
the river but the term is ambiguous and can just as easily mean west (e.g. Deut
3:18-20).

The Hebrew word for Gorena is goren (go'-ren) which identifies smooth places; e.g.
threshing floors or any cleared space like a parade ground. Judging by the size of
Joseph's cortege, I'd have to say Gorena ha-Atad comprised some appreciable
acreage.

Seven days became a traditional period of Jewish mourning (e.g. 1Sam 31:13, Job
2:13)

• Gen 50:11 . . And when the Canaanite inhabitants of the land saw the mourning
at Goren ha-Atad, they said; This is a solemn mourning on the part of the
Egyptians. That is why it was named Abel-mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.

Abel-mizraim means Meadow of the Egyptians. Unfortunately, it's precise location
has been lost in antiquity.

• Gen 50:12-14 . .Thus his sons did for him as he had instructed them. His sons
carried him to the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of
Machpelah, the field near Mamre, which Abraham had bought for a burial site from
Ephron the Hittite. After burying his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his
brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.

If Joseph and his brothers were aware of the prediction Yhvh made to Abraham
back in Gen 15:13-14, then they probably returned to Egypt with heaviness
knowing in advance that slavery and oppression were in store for their progeny.

NOTE: But then again there are folk like King Hezekiah who, when told of his
progeny's rather grim future, was grateful that it would happen to them instead of
him. (Isa 39:5-8)

• Gen 50:15 . .When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said:
What if Joseph still bears a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrong
that we did him?

Where did they get the idea that Joseph was bearing any grudge at all, let alone
"still" bearing a grudge? You know what they did? They did just what Laban did to
Jacob back in chapter 31 when he threatened Jacob with Divine retribution if he
abused Rachel and Leah or dumped them for other women.

Jacob had worked for Laban, on his ranch, up close and personal for twenty years
and never gave Laban one single reason to either believe, or suspect that Jacob3
might do unkind things to his wives. In other words: Laban projected; that is: he
assumed everyone was like himself. Now that's an ego!

Joseph's brothers had a wicked conscience. It wasn't beyond them to project their
own base motives upon everybody else and assume everybody else would do the
very same things they themselves would do in their place. They totally brushed
aside the gracious reception they received in Joseph's house back in chapter 45 and
replaced his hospitality with their own corrupt imaginations; not to mention the
seventeen years just past when they lived a very good life in Egypt under Joseph's
generous auspices.

Nobody's reputation is safe in the hands of people like that who fail to take into
consideration someone's impeccable track record.

• Gen 50:16-17a . . So they sent this message to Joseph: Before his death your
father left this instruction: So shall you say to Joseph; Forgive, I urge you, the
offense and guilt of your brothers who treated you so harshly. Therefore, please
forgive the offense of the servants of the God of your father.

That is one of the most bold, bare-faced lies in the entire Bible. If Jacob had desired
Joseph to let his brothers off like they said, he would have met with Joseph and
said so himself in person rather than elect the brothers as his messengers
posthumously.

• Gen 50:17b . . And Joseph was in tears as they spoke to him.

The people referred to as "they" were not the brothers, but rather, the messengers
they sent. I've not doubt whatsoever that Joseph suspected the message was a lie
concocted by his brothers as a desperate measure to save their own skins. His
disappointment in them for not trusting him must have been overwhelming. Joseph
had never done even one single thing in his entire life to deliberately injure his
brothers and this is how they react?

• Gen 50:18-21 . . His brothers went to him themselves, flung themselves before
him, and said: We are prepared to be your slaves. But Joseph said to them: Have
no fear. Am I a substitute for God? Besides, although you intended me harm, God
intended it for good, so as to bring about the present result-- the survival of many
people. And so, fear not. I will sustain you and your children. Thus he reassured
them, speaking kindly to them.

They say repetition is an effective teaching aid; and it's probably because some
people just don't pay attention. Joseph had already made a similar speech to his
brothers once before already in chapter 45 and here he is having to do it all over
again. Their lack of trust in his word as a man of honor and integrity is just
unforgivable.
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• Gen 50:22-26 . . So Joseph and his father's household remained in Egypt. Joseph
lived one hundred and ten years. Joseph lived to see children of the third
generation of Ephraim: the children of Machir, son of Manasseh, were likewise born
upon Joseph's knees.

. . . At length, Joseph said to his kin: I am about to die. God will surely take notice
of you and bring you up from this land to the land that He promised on oath to
Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. So Joseph made the children of Israel swear,
saying: When God has taken notice of you, you shall carry up my bones from here.

. . . Joseph died at the age of one hundred and ten years; and he was embalmed
and placed in a coffin in Egypt.

Josephs' "coffin" was likely an ornate mummy case; and kept in storage above
ground in a special location sort of like a shrine or a memorial. As they say: Out of
sight, out of mind. Keeping Joseph's remains perpetually on view would make it
difficult for the people of Israel to forget him.

Did Joseph ever make it back home again? Yes; he finally did.

"Now the Israelites went up armed out of the land of Egypt. And Moses took with
him the bones of Joseph, who had exacted an oath from the children of Israel,
saying: God will be sure to take notice of you; then you shall carry up my bones
from here with you." (Ex 13:18-19)

"The bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried
at Shechem, in the piece of ground which Jacob had bought for a hundred kesitahs
from the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, and which had become a heritage of
Joseph's progeny." (Josh 24:32)

Genesis records Jacob purchasing the property (Gen 33:17-20). But Stephen said it
was Abraham's transaction (Acts 7:15-16) which strongly suggests that the county
recorder in the community of Shechem was a bit careless with his paperwork and
let Abraham's deed slip through a crack; necessitating Jacob pay for the lot all over
again; likely at a higher price the second time around.

The End
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