The Torah · Old Testament

Genesis 50

Jacob is buried in Canaan, and Joseph leaves an oath about his bones

General context

Joseph weeps over his father and has the physicians embalm him. After the mourning, he seeks Pharaoh's permission to fulfill his burial oath and promises to return. A large company accompanies the family, while the children and livestock remain in Goshen. They mourn at Atad, and Jacob's sons bury him in the Machpelah cave in Canaan. The party returns to Egypt. The brothers then fear that Joseph will retaliate now their father is dead. They send a message reporting Jacob's request that Joseph forgive them, and Joseph weeps. They come before him offering themselves as servants. Joseph tells them not to fear, asks whether he is in God's place, and says that although they intended evil, God intended good through the preservation of many lives. He promises to provide for them and their children. Joseph lives to a hundred and ten and sees later generations of his family. Near death he says God will bring Israel out of Egypt to the promised land, and he makes them swear to carry his bones with them. He dies, is embalmed and is placed in a coffin in Egypt.

Cited passages: Genesis 50:1, Genesis 50:2, Genesis 50:3, Genesis 50:4, Genesis 50:5, Genesis 50:6, Genesis 50:7, Genesis 50:8, Genesis 50:9, Genesis 50:10, Genesis 50:11, Genesis 50:12, Genesis 50:13, Genesis 50:14, Genesis 50:15, Genesis 50:16, Genesis 50:17, Genesis 50:18, Genesis 50:19, Genesis 50:20, Genesis 50:21, Genesis 50:22, Genesis 50:23, Genesis 50:24, Genesis 50:25, Genesis 50:26

Genesis 50 (KJV)

¹And Joseph fell upon his father’s face, and wept upon him, and kissed him.

²And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel.

³And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed: and the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days.

⁴And when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spake unto the house of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found grace in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying,

⁵My father made me swear, saying, Lo, I die: in my grave which I have digged for me in the land of Canaan, there shalt thou bury me. Now therefore let me go up, I pray thee, and bury my father, and I will come again.

⁶And Pharaoh said, Go up, and bury thy father, according as he made thee swear.

⁷And 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,

⁸And 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.

⁹And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company.

¹⁰And 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.

¹¹And 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.

¹²And his sons did unto him according as he commanded them:

¹³For 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.

¹⁴And 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.

¹⁵And when Joseph’s brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him.

¹⁶And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying,

¹⁷So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him.

¹⁸And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants.

¹⁹And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God?

²⁰But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

²¹Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.

²²And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his father’s house: and Joseph lived an hundred and ten years.

²³And Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation: the children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were brought up upon Joseph’s knees.

²⁴And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

²⁵And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.

²⁶So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

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Historical context

The text gives forty days for embalming and seventy days of Egyptian mourning, without instructing the reader to add them into one total. Joseph addresses Pharaoh through his household and receives permission to leave and return. The funeral company includes Egyptian officials, family, chariots and horsemen. Seven days of mourning at Atad lead the local Canaanites to call the place Abel-mizraim. The burial itself takes place in Machpelah, before Mamre. The forgiveness command is reported by the brothers' message; the narrator does not separately recount Jacob giving it. Joseph's age at death is a hundred and ten. His final oath concerns a future removal of his bones, while his coffin remains in Egypt at the close.

Literary context

Two burial arrangements frame the chapter. Jacob's earlier burial request is carried out in Canaan; Joseph's bones await a later departure. Between them, the brothers' fear reveals their continuing uncertainty about Joseph's intentions. Joseph answers with reassurance and provision, while keeping their harmful intention distinct from the good purpose he attributes to God. The closing oath keeps the promise of a return alive even as Genesis ends with Joseph's coffin in Egypt. Death concludes Joseph's life but does not fulfill the departure he announces.

Key moments

Jacob is buried at Machpelah (Genesis 50:13). His sons bury him in the cave Abraham purchased before Mamre.
Joseph distinguishes intention and outcome (Genesis 50:20). Joseph names his brothers' evil intention and the good purpose he attributes to God in preserving many lives.
Joseph promises continued provision (Genesis 50:21). He reassures his brothers and promises food for them and their children.
Joseph asks for an oath about his bones (Genesis 50:25). Joseph tells Israel to carry his bones out when God brings them from Egypt.

For reflection

How do Jacob's completed burial journey and Joseph's still-future request shape the chapter's ending?

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