Genesis 50

After Jacob's death, Joseph oversaw his embalming and a seventy-day period of mourning in Egypt. Joseph then secured Pharaoh's permission to bury his father in the land of Canaan, fulfilling Jacob's dying wish. Following the burial, Joseph's brothers feared his retribution, but Joseph reassured them, explaining that God had intended their evil for good to preserve many lives. Joseph lived to be one hundred and ten years old, and before his death, he prophesied that God would bring Israel out of Egypt and commanded that his bones be carried with them.

Genesis 50 begins with Joseph mourning his father Jacob, who was then embalmed by Egyptian physicians, a process taking forty days, followed by seventy days of national mourning. Joseph sought and received Pharaoh's permission to transport Jacob's body to Canaan for burial, fulfilling his father's oath. A grand procession, including Egyptian officials and Joseph's entire family, journeyed to the cave of Machpelah in Canaan, where Jacob was interred. Upon their return to Egypt, Joseph's brothers, fearing retribution now that their father was gone, approached Joseph with an appeal for forgiveness. Joseph wept and comforted them, declaring that while they intended evil, God purposed it for good to save many people alive. Joseph continued to dwell in Egypt, living to the age of one hundred and ten years. Before his death, he prophesied God's future visitation to Israel and their return to the promised land, making the children of Israel swear to carry his bones with them when they departed.

Genesis 50 commences with Joseph's profound grief over his father Jacob, falling upon his face, weeping, and kissing him. Joseph then commanded his Egyptian physicians to embalm Jacob, a process that took forty days, followed by a seventy-day period of mourning observed by the Egyptians. After this mourning period, Joseph sought Pharaoh's grace to fulfill his oath to Jacob, requesting permission to bury his father in the grave Jacob had prepared in Canaan. Pharaoh granted this request, leading to an exceptionally large and distinguished funeral procession that included Pharaoh's servants, Egyptian elders, Joseph's entire household, and chariots and horsemen, leaving only the little ones and flocks in Goshen. They journeyed to the threshingfloor of Atad, beyond Jordan, where they observed a seven-day lamentation so profound that the Canaanites named the place Abelmizraim, meaning "the mourning of the Egyptians." Jacob's sons then carried him into Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham had purchased. After the burial, Joseph and his brethren returned to Egypt. Upon their return, Joseph's brothers, fearing his vengeance now that Jacob was dead, sent a messenger to Joseph, recounting a supposed command from their father for Joseph to forgive their trespass. Joseph wept at their words, and when they prostrated themselves before him, he reassured them, asking, "Am I in the place of God?" He famously declared that though they thought evil against him, God meant it for good, to preserve many lives. Joseph comforted them, promising to nourish them and their children. Joseph continued to live in Egypt, reaching the age of one hundred and ten years, witnessing Ephraim's children to the third generation and the children of Machir, Manasseh's son. Before his own death, Joseph prophesied that God would surely visit the children of Israel and bring them out of Egypt to the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He then made the children of Israel swear an oath to carry his bones with them when they departed. Joseph died at one hundred and ten years old, was embalmed, and placed in a coffin in Egypt.