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Genesis 50

1Joseph fell on his father's face, wept over him, and kissed him. 2Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father, and the physicians embalmed Israel. 3Forty days were completed for him, for that is how many days embalming required. The Egyptians wept for him seventy days. 4When the days of mourning for him had passed, Joseph spoke to Pharaoh's household: “If I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in Pharaoh's ears: 5‘My father made me swear, saying, “Look, I am dying. Bury me in the grave I dug for myself in the land of Canaan.” Now, please let me go up and bury my father, and I will return.’” 6Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear.” 7Joseph went up to bury his father. All Pharaoh's servants went up with him, the elders of his household and all the elders of the land of Egypt, 8along with all Joseph's household, his brothers, and his father's household. They left only their little children, their flocks, and their cattle in the land of Goshen. 9Chariots and horsemen also went up with him; it was a very great company.

10They came to the threshing floor of Atad, beyond the Jordan. There they lamented with a great and very heavy lamentation. He observed seven days of mourning for his father. 11The Canaanite inhabitants of the land saw the mourning at Atad's threshing floor and said, “This is a heavy mourning for the Egyptians.” That is why the place was named Abel-mizraim; it is beyond the Jordan. 12His sons did for him as he had commanded them. 13His sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah, which Abraham had bought with the field as a burial holding from Ephron the Hittite, opposite Mamre. 14After burying his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers and everyone who had gone up with him to bury his father.

15Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead and said, “What if Joseph bears a grudge against us and fully repays us for all the evil we did to him?” 16They sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father commanded before his death, 17‘Say this to Joseph: Please forgive your brothers' offense and their sin, for they did evil to you.’ Now, please forgive the offense of the servants of your father's God.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. 18His brothers also came and fell down before him. They said, “Here we are, your slaves.” 19Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid. Am I in God's place? 20You intended evil against me; God intended it for good, to bring about what is happening today, to keep many people alive. 21Now, do not be afraid. I myself will provide for you and your little children.” He comforted them and spoke to their hearts.

22Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father's household. Joseph lived a hundred and ten years. 23Joseph saw Ephraim's descendants to the third generation. The children of Machir son of Manasseh were also born on Joseph's knees. 24Joseph said to his brothers, “I am dying. But God will surely attend to you and bring you up from this land to the land he swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” 25Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely attend to you, and you must carry my bones up from here.” 26Joseph died at a hundred and ten years old. They embalmed him, and he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.

Translation notes 5

50:3–5 — Embalming and burial. The account gives forty days for embalming and seventy days of Egyptian mourning without spelling out how the periods overlap. The verb for Jacob's grave can mean digging or acquiring; “dug” retains the immediate bodily action without denying the earlier purchase of the burial site.

50:10–11 — Beyond the Jordan. The exact location and route are uncertain. Abel-mizraim associates the place-name with “mourning of Egypt.” The geographical expression is retained rather than silently relocating the event to fit a reconstructed itinerary.

50:16–21 — Request and reassurance. The brothers report a command from their father; its giving was not narrated earlier. The account does not independently confirm whether they report it accurately. Joseph retains both their evil intent and God's good intent, then promises provision rather than accepting their offer of enslavement.

50:23 — On Joseph's knees. The expression depicts recognition and welcome within Joseph's household. It does not by itself establish an exact birth position or legal ceremony.

50:24–26 — Bones and attention. “Attend to” renders a verb that can describe a decisive visit of care or intervention; the repeated Hebrew construction makes the assurance emphatic. Joseph's bones and the coffin in Egypt conclude the book while looking toward the promised departure.