GOD’S ANCIENT PEOPLE GENESIS _ALUN OWEN_ CHAPTER 50 JOSEPH BURIES HIS FATHER V1 Then Joseph bent himself down over his father’s face. He wept over him and he kissed him. V2 And Joseph told his servants the doctors to embalm his father’s body. So the doctors embalmed Israel’s body. V3 They did t... [ Continue Reading ]
‘To embalm’ means to put special substances on a dead body and in it. These substances keep the body in a good state. A dead body that people have embalmed is called a ‘mummy’. It lasts for very many years. The Egyptians used to embalm the bodies of important people who had died. V4–5 And when the... [ Continue Reading ]
Joseph did not speak to *Pharaoh but he sent a message. We do not know why he did not speak to *Pharaoh himself. Perhaps he did not approach *Pharaoh because he had touched Jacob’s dead body. ‘After I do that, I will return.’ Jacob promised to *Pharaoh that he would return to Egypt. He would not ta... [ Continue Reading ]
The inhabitants of Egypt gave great honour to Jacob. The reason was that Jacob was Joseph’s father. And Joseph was the most important person in Egypt apart from *Pharaoh.... [ Continue Reading ]
The ‘farm of Atad’ was actually ‘the threshing-floor of Atad’. A ‘threshing-floor’ is the part of a farm where people beat grain with sticks. That separates the seeds from the rest of the grain.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Abel-mizraim’ means ‘Egypt weeps’.... [ Continue Reading ]
They did as Jacob had said. (See Genesis 49:29.) JOSEPH’S PROMISE TO HIS BROTHERS V15 After the death of their father, Joseph’s brothers said, ‘Perhaps Joseph will hate us. Perhaps he will punish us for all the evil things that we did to him.’ V16 So they sent a message to Joseph. They said, ‘Your... [ Continue Reading ]
Joseph had forgiven his brothers. He did not blame them for what they did. He showed this clearly, by what he said. (See Genesis 45:5 and the comment.) And he showed it by what he did. (See Genesis 47:11-12.) But the brothers were still not sure that Joseph had forgiven them. We may sometimes be li... [ Continue Reading ]
We do not know whether Jacob actually said this. Probably the brothers were lying.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Joseph wept.’ Joseph had already forgiven his brothers but his brothers did not trust him. Joseph wept because they did not trust him.... [ Continue Reading ]
Initially, the brothers sent a message. (See verse 16.) They also came themselves. (See verse 18.) V19 But Joseph said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I am not a judge, as God is. V20 You intended to do evil things to me. But God intended to do good things. The purpose of his plan was to keep many peop... [ Continue Reading ]
The brothers had asked Joseph to forgive them. (See verse 17.) But Joseph did not say, ‘I forgive you.’ He had already forgiven them, many years before this time.... [ Continue Reading ]
The things that had happened were a part of God’s plan. Joseph realised that and so he did not blame his brothers. Instead, he praised God. JOSEPH DIES V22 So Joseph lived in Egypt. He and his father’s family lived there. And Joseph lived for 110 years. V23 Joseph saw Ephraim’s grandchildren. The... [ Continue Reading ]
Many years after Joseph’s death, Israel’s *descendants left Egypt. They crossed the desert and they entered *Canaan. And they overcame the people who lived in *Canaan.... [ Continue Reading ]
For ‘embalm’ see the comment on verses 2-3. Nearly 400 years after this time, Israel’s *descendants left Egypt and they went to *Canaan. They took Joseph’s mummy with them and they buried it in *Canaan. (See Exodus 13:19 and Joshua 24:32.) Exodus follows Genesis in the Bible. Exodus describes how... [ Continue Reading ]