Discovery BoxGenesis 50:1-26
Context50:1 Then Joseph hugged his father’s face. 1 He wept over him and kissed him. 50:2 Joseph instructed the physicians in his service 2 to embalm his father, so the physicians embalmed Israel. 50:3 They took forty days, for that is the full time needed for embalming. 3 The Egyptians mourned 4 for him seventy days. 5
50:4 When the days of mourning 6 had passed, Joseph said to Pharaoh’s royal court, 7 “If I have found favor in your sight, please say to Pharaoh, 8 50:5 ‘My father made me swear an oath. He said, 9 “I am about to die. Bury me 10 in my tomb that I dug for myself there in the land of Canaan.” Now let me go and bury my father; then I will return.’” 50:6 So Pharaoh said, “Go and bury your father, just as he made you swear to do.” 11
50:7 So Joseph went up to bury his father; all Pharaoh’s officials went with him – the senior courtiers 12 of his household, all the senior officials of the land of Egypt, 50:8 all Joseph’s household, his brothers, and his father’s household. But they left their little children and their flocks and herds in the land of Goshen. 50:9 Chariots and horsemen also went up with him, so it was a very large entourage. 13
50:10 When they came to the threshing floor of Atad 14 on the other side of the Jordan, they mourned there with very great and bitter sorrow. 15 There Joseph observed a seven day period of mourning for his father. 50:11 When the Canaanites who lived in the land saw them mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a very sad occasion 16 for the Egyptians.” That is why its name was called 17 Abel Mizraim, 18 which is beyond the Jordan.
50:12 So the sons of Jacob did for him just as he had instructed them. 50:13 His sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, near Mamre. This is the field Abraham purchased as a burial plot from Ephron the Hittite. 50:14 After he buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, along with his brothers and all who had accompanied him to bury his father.
50:15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph bears a grudge and wants to repay 19 us in full 20 for all the harm 21 we did to him?” 50:16 So they sent word 22 to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave these instructions before he died: 50:17 ‘Tell Joseph this: Please forgive the sin of your brothers and the wrong they did when they treated you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sin of the servants of the God of your father.” When this message was reported to him, Joseph wept. 23 50:18 Then his brothers also came and threw themselves down before him; they said, “Here we are; we are your slaves.” 50:19 But Joseph answered them, “Don’t be afraid. Am 24 I in the place of God? 50:20 As for you, you meant to harm me, 25 but God intended it for a good purpose, so he could preserve the lives of many people, as you can see this day. 26 50:21 So now, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your little children.” Then he consoled them and spoke kindly 27 to them.
50:22 Joseph lived in Egypt, along with his father’s family. 28 Joseph lived 110 years. 50:23 Joseph saw the descendants of Ephraim to the third generation. 29 He also saw the children of Makir the son of Manasseh; they were given special inheritance rights by Joseph. 30
50:24 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to you 31 and lead you up from this land to the land he swore on oath to give 32 to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” 50:25 Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath. He said, “God will surely come to you. Then you must carry my bones up from this place.” 50:26 So Joseph died at the age of 110. 33 After they embalmed him, his body 34 was placed in a coffin in Egypt.
Genesis 2:11
Context2:11 The name of the first is Pishon; it runs through 35 the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold.
Genesis 5:31-32
Context5:31 The entire lifetime of Lamech was 777 years, and then he died.
5:32 After Noah was 500 years old, he 36 became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Genesis 7:18
Context7:18 The waters completely overwhelmed 37 the earth, and the ark floated 38 on the surface of the waters.
Proverbs 25:27
Context25:27 It is not good 39 to eat too much honey,
nor is it honorable for people to seek their own glory. 40
Proverbs 25:2
Context25:2 It is the glory of God 41 to conceal 42 a matter,
and it is the glory of a king to search out a matter.
Colossians 1:18
Context1:18 He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn 43 from among the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things. 44
Hebrews 5:4-5
Context5:4 And no one assumes this honor 45 on his own initiative, 46 but only when called to it by God, 47 as in fact Aaron was. 5:5 So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming high priest, but the one who glorified him was God, 48 who said to him, “You are my Son! Today I have fathered you,” 49
[50:1] 1 tn Heb “fell on.” The expression describes Joseph’s unrestrained sorrow over Jacob’s death; he probably threw himself across the body and embraced his father.
[50:2] 2 tn Heb “his servants the physicians.”
[50:3] 3 tn Heb “and forty days were fulfilled for him, for thus are fulfilled the days of embalming.”
[50:3] 5 sn Seventy days. This probably refers to a time of national mourning.
[50:4] 7 tn Heb “the house of Pharaoh.”
[50:4] 8 tn Heb “in the ears of Pharaoh.”
[50:5] 10 tn The imperfect verbal form here has the force of a command.
[50:6] 11 tn Heb “he made you swear on oath.”
[50:7] 12 tn Or “dignitaries”; Heb “elders.”
[50:10] 14 sn The location of the threshing floor of Atad is not certain. The expression the other side of the Jordan could refer to the eastern or western bank, depending on one’s perspective. However, it is commonly used in the OT for Transjordan. This would suggest that the entourage came up the Jordan Valley and crossed into the land at Jericho, just as the Israelites would in the time of Joshua.
[50:10] 15 tn Heb “and they mourned there [with] very great and heavy mourning.” The cognate accusative, as well as the two adjectives and the adverb, emphasize the degree of their sorrow.
[50:11] 16 tn Heb “this is heavy mourning for Egypt.”
[50:11] 17 tn The verb has no expressed subject and so it may be translated as passive.
[50:11] 18 sn The name Abel Mizraim means “the mourning of Egypt.”
[50:15] 19 tn The imperfect tense could be a simple future; it could also have a desiderative nuance.
[50:15] 20 tn The infinitive absolute makes the statement emphatic, “repay in full.”
[50:16] 22 tn The verb means “command,” but they would hardly be commanding him. It probably means they sent their father’s instructions to Joseph.
[50:17] 23 tn Heb “and Joseph wept when they spoke to him.”
[50:20] 25 tn Heb “you devised against me evil.”
[50:20] 26 tn Heb “God devised it for good in order to do, like this day, to preserve alive a great nation.”
[50:21] 27 tn Heb “spoke to their heart.”
[50:22] 28 tn Heb “he and the house of his father.”
[50:23] 29 tn Heb “saw Ephraim, the children of the third.”
[50:23] 30 tn Heb “they were born on the knees of Joseph.” This expression implies their adoption by Joseph, which meant that they received an inheritance from him.
[50:24] 31 tn The verb פָּקַד (paqad) means “to visit,” i.e., to intervene for blessing or cursing; here Joseph announces that God would come to fulfill the promises by delivering them from Egypt. The statement is emphasized by the use of the infinitive absolute with the verb: “God will surely visit you.”
[50:24] 32 tn The words “to give” are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
[50:26] 33 tn Heb “son of a hundred and ten years.”
[2:11] 35 tn Heb “it is that which goes around.”
[5:32] 36 tn Heb “Noah.” The pronoun (“he”) has been employed in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[7:18] 37 tn Heb “and the waters were great and multiplied exceedingly.” The first verb in the sequence is וַיִּגְבְּרוּ (vayyigbÿru, from גָּבַר, gavar), meaning “to become great, mighty.” The waters did not merely rise; they “prevailed” over the earth, overwhelming it.
[25:27] 39 sn This is a figure of speech known as tapeinosis – a deliberate understatement to emphasize a worst-case scenario: “it is bad!”
[25:27] 40 tn Heb “and the investigation of their glory is not glory.” This line is difficult to understand but it forms an analogy to honey – glory, like honey, is good, but not to excess. The LXX rendered this, “it is proper to honor notable sayings.” A. A. MacIntosh suggests, “He who searches for glory will be distressed” (“A Note on Prov 25:27,” VT 20 [1970]: 112-14). G. E. Bryce has “to search out difficult things is glorious” (“Another Wisdom ‘Book’ in Proverbs,” JBL 91 (1972): 145-47). R. C. Van Leeuwen suggests, “to seek difficult things is as glory” (“Proverbs 25:27 Once Again,” VT 36 [1986]: 105-14). The Hebrew is cryptic, but not unintelligible: “seeking their glory [is not] glory.” It is saying that seeking one’s own glory is dishonorable.
[25:2] 41 sn The proverb provides a contrast between God and the king, and therein is the clue to the range of application involved. The interest of the king is ruling or administering his government; and so the subject matter is a contrast to the way God rules his kingdom.
[25:2] 42 sn The two infinitives form the heart of the contrast – “to conceal a matter” and “to search out a matter.” God’s government of the universe is beyond human understanding – humans cannot begin to fathom the intentions and operations of it. But it is the glory of kings to search out matters and make them intelligible to the people. Human government cannot claim divine secrecy; kings have to study and investigate everything before making a decision, even divine government as far as possible. But kings who rule as God’s representatives must also try to represent his will in human affairs – they must even inquire after God to find his will. This is their glorious nature and responsibility. For more general information on vv. 2-27, see G. E. Bryce, “Another Wisdom ‘Book’ in Proverbs,” JBL 91 (1972): 145-57.
[1:18] 43 tn See the note on the term “firstborn” in 1:15. Here the reference to Jesus as the “firstborn from among the dead” seems to be arguing for a chronological priority, i.e., Jesus was the first to rise from the dead.
[1:18] 44 tn Grk “in order that he may become in all things, himself, first.”
[5:4] 45 sn Honor refers here to the honor of the high priesthood.
[5:4] 46 tn Grk “by himself, on his own.”
[5:4] 47 tn Grk “being called by God.”
[5:5] 48 tn Grk “the one”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
