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53 - Commentary on The Book of Genesis · Sacred Texts Archive

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Chapter fifty. Here is one the preparation for Jacob's funeral Verses one to six,
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two, the funeral itself verses seven to fourteen, three, The setting
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of a good understanding between Joseph and his brethren after the death of Jacob Verses
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fifteen to twenty one. Four, The age and death of Joseph Verses twenty
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two to twenty six. Thus the book of Genesis, which began with the
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origin of light and life, ends with nothing but death and darkness. So
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said a change Sin has made the burial of Jacob b. C. Sixteen
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eighty nine, Verses one two six. And Joseph fell upon his father's face
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and wept unto him and kissed him. And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians,
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to embalm his father. And the physicians embalmed Israel, and forty days
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were fulfilled for him, for so are fulfilled the days of those which are
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embalmed. And the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days. And when
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the days of his morning were past, Joseph spake unto the house of Pharaoh,
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saying, if now I have found grace in your eyes, speak I
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pray you in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, my father made me swear,
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saying, lo, I die in my grave which I have digged for
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me in the land of Canaan. There shalt thou bury me. Now,
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therefore let me go up. I pray thee and bury my father, and
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I will come again. And Pharaoh said, go up and bury thy father,
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according as he made thee swear. Joseph is here paying his last respects
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to his deceased father one, with tears and kisses and all the tender expressions
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of filial affection. He takes leave of the deserted body Verse one. Though
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Jacob was old and decrepit and must needs die in the course of nature,
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though he was poor comparatively and a constant charge to his son Joseph, he
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had such an affection he had for a loving father, and so sensible he
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was of the laws of a prudent, pious, praying father, that he
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could not part with him without floods of tears. Note as it is an
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honor to die lamented, so it is the duty of survivors to lament the
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death of those who have been useful in their day, though for some time
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they may have survived their usefulness. The departed soul is out of reach of
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our tears and kisses, but with them it is proper to show our respect
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to the poor body, of which we look for a glorious and joyful resurrection.
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Thus Joseph showed his faith in God and loved to his father by kissing
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his pale and cold lips, and so giving an affectionate farewell. Probably the
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rest of Jacob's sons did the same. Much moved no doubt with his dying
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words. Two he ordered the body to be embalmed. First two not only
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because he died in Egypt, and that was the manner of the Egyptians,
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but because he was to be carried to Canaan, which would be a work
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of time, and therefore it was necessary the body should be preserved as well
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as it might be from faction. See how vile our bodies are when the
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soul has forsaken them. Without a great deal of art and pains and care,
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they will in a very little time become noisome. If the body had
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been dead four days by that time it was offensive. Three he observed the
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ceremony of solemn mourning for him Verse three. Forty days were taken up in
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embalming the body, which the Egyptians, they say, had an art of
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doing so curiously as to preserve the very features of the face unchanged. All
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this time and thirty days more seventy in all they either confined themselves or sat
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solitary, or when they went out, appeared in the habit of clothes mourners,
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according to the decent custom of the country. Even the Egyptians, many
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of them, out of the great respect they have for Joseph, whose good
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offices done for the king and country were now fresh in remembrance, put themselves
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into mourning for his father. As with us, when the court goes into
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mourning, those the best quality do so too. About ten weeks was the
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court of Egypt in mourning for Jacob. Note what they did in state we
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should do in sincerity. Weep with those that weep, and mourn with those
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that mourn, as being ourselves also in the body. Four he asked and
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obtained leave of Pharaoh to go to Canaan, thither to attend the funeral of
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his father Verses four to six. Sub one. It was a piece of
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necessary respect to Pharaoh that he would not go without leave for we may suppose
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that though his charge above the corn was long since over, yet he continued
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a prime Minister of State, and therefore would not be so long absent from
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his business without license. Sob. Two he observed a decorum in employing some
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of the royal family or some of the officers of the household to intercede for
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this license, either because it was not proper for him, in the days
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of his mourning, to come into the presence chamber, or because he would
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not presume too much upon his own interest. Note modesty is a great ornament
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to dignity. Three. He pleaded the obligation his father had laid upon him
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by an oath to bury him in Canaan verse five. It was not from
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pride or humor, but from his regard to an indispensable duty that he desired
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it. All nations reckoned that oas must be performed, and the will of
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the dead must be observed. Sub Four. He promised to return. I
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will come again when we return to our houses. From burying the bodies of
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our relations. We say we have left them behind. But if their souls
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have gone to our heavenly father's house, we may say with more reason they
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have left us behind. Sub five, he obtained leave verse six, go
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and bury thy father. Pharaoh was willing his business should stand still so long,
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but the serface of Christ is more needful, and therefore he would not
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allow one that had work to do for him to go first and bury his
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father. No, let the dead bury their dead. Matthew Chapter eight,
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verses twenty two, verse seven, two fourteen. And Joseph went to bury
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his father, and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the
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elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt,
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and all the house of Joseph and his brethren, and his father's house,
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only their little ones, and their flocks and their herds. They left in
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the land of Goshen. And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen,
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and it was a very great company. And they came to the threshing
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floor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a
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great and sore lamentation. And he made a mourning for his father seven days.
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And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning
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on the floor of Atad, they said this is a grievous morning to the
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Egyptians, wherefore the name of it was called Abel Misram, which is beyond
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Jordan. And his sons did unto him according as he commanded them. For
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his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in a cave
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in the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for possession of
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a burying place of Ephron the Hittite. Before Mamri and Joseph returned to Egypt,
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he and his brethren and all that went with him to bury his father.
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After he buried his father, we have here an account of Jacob's funeral.
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Other funerals of the kings of Judah, usually no more is said than
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this. They were buried with their fathers in the city of David. But
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the funeral of the patriarch Jacob is more largely and fully described, to show
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how much better God was to him than he expected. He had spoken more
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than once of dying for grief and going to the grave bereaved of his children.
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But behold, he dies in honor and is followed to the grave by
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all his children. And also because his orders concerning his burial were given and
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observed in faith and in expectation, both of the earthly and the heavenly.
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Canaan now one, it was a stately funeral. He was attended to the
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grave not only by his own family, but by the courtiers and all the
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great men of the kingdom, who, in token of their gratitude to Joseph,
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showed this respect to his father for his sake, and did him honor
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at his death. Though the Egyptians had had an apathy to the Hebrews and
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had looked upon them with disdain a Chapter forty three, verse thirty two,
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yet now that they were better acquainted with them, they began to have a
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respect for them. Good Old Jacob had conducted himself so well among them as
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to give universal esteem. Note professors of religion should endeavor, by wisdom and
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love to remove the prejudices which many have conceived against them, because they do
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not know them. There went abundance of chariots and horsemen, not only to
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attend them a little way, but to go through with them. Note the
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decent solemnities of funerals, according to a man's situation, are very commendable,
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and we must not say of them to what purposes this waste See Acts chapter
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eight, verse two, Luke chapter seven, verse twelve two. It was
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a sorrowful funeral Verses ten and eleven. Standersby took notice of it as a
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grievous morning. Note the death of good men is a great loss to any
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place, and ought to be greatly lamented. Stephen dies a martyr, and
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yet devout men make great limitations for him. The solemn morning for Jacob gave
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a name to the place Abel Misram, the mourning of the Egyptians, which
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served for testimony against the next generation of Egyptians, who oppressed the posterity of
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this Jacob, to whom their ancestors showed such respect. Joseph comforts his brethren
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b c. Sixteen eighty nine, Verses fifteen to twenty one. And when
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Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure
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hate us, and will certainly requit us all the evil which we did unto
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him. And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying thy father did command
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before he died, saying, so shall ye say unto Joseph, forgive I
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pray thee Now the trespass of thy brethren and their sin, for they did
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unto THEE evil. And now we pray THEE forgive the trespass of thy so
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of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when he spake unto them,
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and his brethren also went and fell down before his face, and they
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said, behold, we be thy servants. And Joseph said, unto them,
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fear not, for am I in the place of God. But as
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for you, ye thought evil against me, But God meant it unto good
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to bring it to pass as it is this day, to save much people
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alive. Now therefore, fear ye not. I will nourish you in your
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little ones. And he comforted them and spake kindly unto them. We have
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here the setting of a good correspondence between Joseph and his brethren, now that
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their father was dead. Joseph was at court in the royal city. His
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brethren were in Goshen, remote in the country. Yet the keeping up of
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a good understanding and a good affection between them would be both his honor and
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their interest. Note. When Providence has removed the parents by death, the
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best methods ought to be taken, not only for the preventing of quarrels among
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the children, which often happen about the dividing of the estate, but for
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the preserving of acquaintance and love, that unity may continue even when that center
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of unity is taken away. Roman Ie, Joseph's brethren humbly make their court
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to him for his favor. One, they began to be jealous of Joseph,
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not that he had given them any cause to be so. But the
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consciousness of guilt and of their own inability in such a case to forgive and
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forget, made them suspicious of the sincerity and constancy of Joseph's favor. Verse
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fifteen. Joseph will peradventure hate us. While their father lived, they thought
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themselves safe under his shadow, But now that he was dead, they feared
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the worst from Joseph. Note A guilty conscience exposes men to continual frights even
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where no fear is, and makes them suspicious of everybody. As Cain,
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Chapter four, verse fourteen, those that would be fearless must keep themselves guiltless.
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If our heart reproach us not, then we have confidencedence, both towards
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God and man. Two. They humbled themselves before him, confessed their fault
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and begged his pardon. They did it by proxy verse seventeen. They did
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it in person. Verse eighteen. Now that the sun and moon had set,
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the eleven stars did homage to Joseph for the further accomplishment of his dream.
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They speak of their former offense with fresh regret. Forgive the trespass.
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They throw themselves at Joseph's feet and refer themselves to his mercy. We are
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thy servants. Thus we must bewail the sins we committed long ago, even
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those which we hope, through grace are forgiven. And when we pray to
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God for pardon, we must promise to be his servants. Three. They
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pleaded their relation to Jacob and Jacob's God sub one to Jacob, urging that
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he directed them to make this submission rather because he questioned whether they would do
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their duty in humbling themselves, than because he questioned whether Joseph would do his
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duty in forgiving them. Nor could he reasonably expect Joseph's kindness to them unless
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they qualified themselves for it. Verse sixteen. Thy Father did command, Thus
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in humbling ourselves to Christ by faith and repentance, we may plead that it
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is the command of his father and our father, that we do so so.
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Two to Jacob's God, they pleaded verse seventeen. We are the servants
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of the God of thy father, not only the children of the same Jacob,
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but worshippers of the same Jehovah. Note, though we must be ready
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to forgive all that are any way injurious to us, yet we must especially
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take heed of bearing malice towards any that our servants of the God of our
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father. Such we should always treat with peculiar tenderness, for we as they
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have the same master. Roman too. Joseph, with a great deal of
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compassion, confirms his reconciliation and affection to them. His compassion appears verse seventeen.
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He wept when they spoke to him. These were tears of sorrow for
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their suspicion of him, and tears of tenderness upon their submission. In his
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reply one, he directs them to look up to God in their repentance Verse
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nineteen, am I in the place of God. He, in his great
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humility, thought they showed him too much respect, as if all their happiness
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were bound up in his favor. And he said to them in effect as
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Peter to Cornelius, stand up. I myself also am a man. Make
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your peace with God, and then you will find it an easy matter to
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make your peace with me. Note when we ask forgiveness of those whom we
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have offended, we must take heed of putting them in the place of God,
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by dreading their wrath and soliciting their favor more than God's. Am I
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in the place of God, to whom alone vengeance belongs. No, I
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will leave you to His mercy. Those that avenge themselves step into the place
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of God. Romans, Chapter twelve, Verse nineteen two. He extenuates their
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fault from the consideration of the great good which God wonderfully brought out of it,
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which, though it shall not make them the less sorry for their sin,
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yet might make him the more willing to forgive it. Verse twenty.
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You thought evil to disappoint the dreams, but God meant it unto good,
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in order to the fulfilling of the dreams and the making of Joseph a greater
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blessing to his family than otherwise he could have been. Note when God makes
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use of men's agency for the performance of his counsels, it is common for
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him to mean one thing and them another, even the quite contrary. But
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God's counsels shall stand see Isaiah chapter ten, verse seven. Again, God
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often brings good out of evil and promotes the designs of his providence, even
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by the sins of men. Not that He is the author of sin,
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far be it from us to think so. But his infinite wisdom so overrules
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events and directs the chain of them, that in the issue that ends in
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His praise, which in its own nature had a direct tendency to his dishonor,
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as the putting of Christ to death acts Chapter two, verse twenty three.
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This does not make sin the less sinful, nor sinners the less punishable,
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but it redounds greatly to the glory of God's wisdom. Three. He
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assures them of the continuance of His kindness to them. Fear not, I
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will nourish you verse twenty one. See what an excellent spirit Joseph was of,
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and learn of him to render good for evil. He did not tell
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them they were upon their good behavior, and he would be kind to them
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if he saw they conducted themselves well. No, he would not thus hold
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them in suspense, nor seem jealous of them, though they had been suspicious
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of him. He comforted them, and to banish all their fears, he
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spoke kindly to them. Note, broken spirits must be bound up and encouraged.
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Those we love and forgive. We must not only do well for,
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but speak kindly too. The death of Joseph b. C. Sixteen thirty
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five Verses twenty two two twenty six, and Joseph dwelt in Egypt he and
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his father's house, and Joseph lived a hundred and ten years, and Joseph
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saw Ephraim's children to the third generation. The children also of Mikhar, the
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son of Manassah, were brought up upon Joseph's knees, and Joseph said,
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unto his brethren, I die, and God will surely visit you and bring
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you out of this land, unto the land which he swore to Abraham,
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to Isaac and to Jacob. And Joseph took an oath of the children of
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Israel, saying God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my
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bones from hence. So Joseph died, being a hundred and ten years old,
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and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.
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Here is Roman I, The prolonging of Joseph's life in Egypt. He
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lived to be a hundred and ten years old Verse twenty two, having honored
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his father. His days were long in the land which for the present God
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had given him. And it was a great mercy to his relations that God
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continued him so long, a support and comfort to them. Roman two.
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The building up of Joseph's family. He lived to see his great grandchildren by
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both his sons Verse twenty three, and probably he saw his two sons solemnly
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owned as heads of distinct tribes, equal to any of his brethren. It
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contributes much to the comfort of aged parents if they see their posterity in a
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flourishing condition, especially if with it they see peace upon Israel Some one hundred
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and twenty eight ver six. Roman three. The last Will and Testament of
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Joseph published in the presence of his brethren. When he saw his death approaching
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those that were properly his brethren, perhaps were some of them dead before him,
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as several of them were older than he. But to those of them
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who yet survived, and to the sons of those who were gone, who
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stood up in their father's stead, he said this one, He comforted them
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with the assurance of their return to Canaan in due time. I die,
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but God will surely visit you verse twenty four. To this purport, Janeacup
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had spoken to him Chapter forty eight, verse twenty one. Thus we must
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comfort others with the same comforts with which we ourselves have been comforted of God,
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and encourage them to rest on those promises which have been our support.
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Joseph was under God both the protector and the benefactor of his brethren, And
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what would become of them now that he was dying? Why let this be
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their comfort. God will surely visit you. Note God's gracious visits will serve
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to make up the loss of our best friends. They die, but we
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may live and live comfortably if we have the favor and presence of God with
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us. He bids them be confident. God will bring you out of this
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land, and therefore sub one, they must not hope to settle there,
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nor look upon it as their rest forever. They must set their hearts upon
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the land of Promise and call that their home. Sub two. They must
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not fear sinking and being ruined there. Probably He foresaw the ill usage they
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would meet with there after his death, and therefore gives them this word of
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encouragement. God will bring you in triumph out of this land at last.
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Herein he has an eye to the promise chapter fifteen, verses thirteen fourteen,
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and in God's name assures them of the performance of it. Two for a
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confession of his own faith and a confirmation of theirs, he charges them to
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keep him unburied till that day, that glorious day should come, when they
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should be settled in the land of Promise. Verse twenty five. He makes
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them promise with an oath that they will bury him in Canaan. In Egypt
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they buried their great men very honorably and with abundance of pomp. But Joseph
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prefers a significant burial in Canaan, and that deferred too, almost two hundred
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years before a magnificent one in Egypt. Thus Joseph, by faith in the
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doctrine of the resurrection and the promise of Canaan, gave commandment concerning his bones
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Hebrews Chapter eleven, verse twenty two. He dies in Egypt, but lays
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his bones at stake that God will surely visit Israel and bring them to Canaan
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romanfort the death of Joseph and the resurrection of the body for a burial.
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In Canaan verse twenty six, he was put in a coffin in Egypt,
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but not buried till his children had received their inheritance. In Canaan Joshua,
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chapter twenty four, verse thirty two. Note one, if the separate soul
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at death do but return to its rest with God, the matter is not
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great, though the deserted body find not at all, or not quickly its
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rest in the grave. Two. Yet care ought to be taken of the
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dead bodies of the saints in the belief of their resurrection, For there is
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a covenant with the dust which shall be remembered. And a commandment is given
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concerning the bones. End of Chapter fifty and end of commentary on the Book
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of Genesis by Matthew Henry