Genesis 50 explained: Burying Jacob, Forgiving the Brothers

Joseph mourns his father (vv. 1-3)

Joseph has his father embalmed the Egyptian way, a long process that preserved the body and also made the long trip to Canaan possible. The Egyptians mourn seventy days, a public honor fit for someone of very high rank, likely out of respect for Joseph.

A great funeral procession (vv. 4-11)

Joseph asks Pharaoh through his officials, perhaps because a person in mourning was not expected to appear before the king, and a huge Egyptian company travels with him. Where exactly Atad was, and why the route went near the Jordan, is uncertain; the place name Abel Mizraim sounds like "mourning of Egypt."

Buried in the family cave (vv. 12-14)

Jacob's sons lay him in the cave at Machpelah that Abraham had bought long before, where Abraham and Isaac and their wives were already buried. Burying him there kept the promise they had sworn and tied the family to the land God had promised them.

The brothers' fear (vv. 15-18)

With their father gone, the brothers worry Joseph's kindness was only for Jacob's sake, so they send a plea said to be from Jacob that the text never records him giving, and some readers suspect they made it up. When they bow and offer themselves as slaves, it echoes Joseph's boyhood dreams of his brothers bowing to him.

Joseph's answer (vv. 19-21)

Joseph refuses to act as their judge, which he sees as God's role, and says God took what they meant for harm and used it to keep many people alive during the famine. Christians have often read Joseph as a picture of Jesus, someone wronged by his own people who forgives them and saves lives.

Joseph's last wish (vv. 22-26)

Joseph lives to 110, a number Egyptian tradition treated as the ideal lifespan, and sees his descendants for several generations, with children placed on his knees possibly as a sign of claiming them into the family. He makes his family promise to carry his bones to Canaan when God brings them back, and the book ends with his coffin still waiting in Egypt.

Key verse: Genesis 50:20

Where Christians differ

Christians differ on what verse 20 means for how God relates to evil, some reading it as God actively planning even the brothers' wrong and others as God bringing good out of a wrong he did not cause.

Something to think about

Can something be a real wrong and still lead to something good, or does saying so risk excusing the people who caused the harm?