Genesis 50

Joseph mourns and buries his father Jacob in Canaan, as Jacob had asked. Afterward his brothers fear he will take revenge, and Joseph answers with one of the great statements of God’s care: what they meant for evil, God meant for good. The book ends with Joseph’s death and his hope that God will bring Israel home.

Genesis 50:1

Joseph’s grief breaks out openly. He weeps, falls on his father’s face, and kisses him. The powerful ruler of Egypt is here simply a son losing his father. Scripture does not hide such tears; faith and deep sorrow live together.

BSA: kissed (“showed affection, or paid respect to”): The kiss was both tender love and a last act of honor to his father.

Genesis 50:2-3

Joseph has Jacob embalmed, an Egyptian practice for honoring the dead and preserving the body for the long trip home. Egypt mourns seventy days, which shows how greatly Joseph was respected. Jacob is called Israel, the name God gave him.

BSA: embalm (“to spice, preserve”): Spices were used to preserve the body, so that it could be carried safely to Canaan. physicians (“healers, medical attendants”): Joseph used his household healers, who knew the skill of preparing bodies.

Genesis 50:4-6

Joseph asks Pharaoh’s court to carry his request, perhaps because he was in mourning and so not ready to appear before Pharaoh. He reminds Pharaoh of the oath Jacob made him swear. Pharaoh grants it kindly, honoring a son’s promise to his father.

BSA: swear (“take an oath, vow”): An oath was a serious promise made before God, so Joseph could not simply set it aside.

See also: Genesis 47:29-31.

Genesis 50:7-9

A huge company goes up with Joseph: Egypt’s officials, elders, chariots and horsemen, and Jacob’s family. Only the children and animals stay in Goshen, which also assured Pharaoh they would return. The grand escort shows the honor given to a shepherd from Canaan.

BSA: procession (“camp, army, company”): It looked like a whole army on the move, not just a funeral party.

Genesis 50:10-11

At the threshing floor of Atad they stop for a very loud lament, and Joseph keeps seven days of mourning. The local Canaanites, watching the Egyptian dignitaries, take it for an Egyptian ceremony and name the place Abel-mizraim, meaning mourning of Egypt.

BSA: wailed loudly (“with a very great and severe cry”): The grief was deep and open, with nothing held back.

Genesis 50:12-13

Jacob’s sons carry out his wishes exactly. He is laid in the cave of Machpelah, the one place in Canaan Abraham owned. It was a small piece of the promised land held in advance, and a sign that Israel’s future lay there, not in Egypt.

See also: Genesis 23:17-20; Genesis 49:29-32.

Genesis 50:14

After the burial Joseph goes back to Egypt with his brothers and everyone who went with him. The task is done, and the family returns to the place where God was keeping them for now.

BSA: returned (“to turn back, or go back to a place”): They went back deliberately, as Joseph had promised Pharaoh.

Genesis 50:15

With Jacob gone, the brothers’ old guilt wakes up. They fear that Joseph was only kind for their father’s sake and now will pay them back. Guilty hearts often find it hard to believe forgiveness is real, even after years of kindness.

BSA: bears a grudge (“hates, holds a long-standing resentment”): They feared an old hatred that had only been waiting.

Genesis 50:16-17

They send a message, saying Jacob left a request for Joseph’s forgiveness. The Bible never records Jacob saying this, so it may have been their own plea. They appeal to the God of Joseph’s father, and Joseph weeps that they still doubted him.

BSA: transgression (“rebellion, revolt against God or others”): They admit their act was not a mistake but a deliberate break against their brother.

Hebrew: פֶּשַׁע (pesha, H6588) — “rebellion, willful wrong.” This is a strong Hebrew word for a deliberate breaking of a relationship. The brothers do not make light of what they did.

Genesis 50:18

The brothers bow before Joseph and call themselves his slaves. It fulfills the old dreams of Joseph’s youth, but now with no pride in it. It comes from fear and need, and what Joseph does with it shows his heart.

See also: Genesis 37:5-10.

Genesis 50:19

Joseph says, Do not be afraid. His question, Am I in the place of God, means that judging and punishing belong to God, not to him. He lays down any claim to take revenge, and so leaves the matter with God.

See also: Romans 12:19.

Genesis 50:20

This is the heart of the chapter. The brothers meant harm, and it was truly evil. Yet God was working through it for good, saving many lives. God’s purposes are not defeated by human sin, and this does not excuse the sin.

BSA: intended (“devised, planned”): Both the brothers and God had a plan in the same events, but God’s plan was the greater.

Hebrew: חָשַׁב (chashav, H2803) — “to think out, plan, devise.” The same word is used for the brothers’ plan and for God’s. One set of events held two purposes, and God’s good one prevailed.

See also: Romans 8:28; Genesis 45:5-8.

Genesis 50:21

Joseph repeats his comfort and adds a promise to feed them and their little ones. Forgiveness is not only words. He speaks kindly, gently, to their hearts, and he backs it with real care.

BSA: spoke kindly (“gently, with a soothing voice”): His words were meant to calm their fear, not just to make a point.

Genesis 50:22-23

Joseph lives to 110, seeing three generations of Ephraim’s children and Manasseh’s grandson Machir’s sons on his knees. In Egypt he is blessed with family, as Jacob had promised. It is a quiet picture of a life lived under God’s favor.

See also: Genesis 48:5.

Genesis 50:24

Dying, Joseph looks beyond Egypt. He believes God will visit his people and bring them to the land sworn to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. His hope rests not in his own power but in God’s promise.

BSA: visit (“to oversee, reckon with”): When God visits, he steps in to care for and act on behalf of his people.

Hebrew: פָּקַד (paqad, H6485) — “to visit, attend to.” This word means God stepping in to look after his people and rescue them. It is the word used again at the Exodus.

See also: Exodus 3:16.

Genesis 50:25

Joseph has the sons of Israel swear to carry his bones up when God brings them out. He wants his burial in the promised land, not in Egypt. It was a statement of faith that the promise would come true.

See also: Hebrews 11:22; Exodus 13:19.

Genesis 50:26

Joseph dies at 110, is embalmed, and is placed in a coffin in Egypt. Genesis ends in a coffin, yet with a hope waiting. The family is far from the promised land, but God’s promise stays alive for the story ahead.

BSA: coffin (“ark, chest”): The Hebrew word is the one used for the ark, a box that waits to be carried onward.