Genesis 50:10 | 93
23
With bitterness archers attacked him; they shot at him with hostility.
24
But his bow remained steady, his strong arms stayed a limber, because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob, because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
25 because of your father’ s God, who helps you, because of the Almighty, b who blesses you with blessings of the skies above, blessings of the deep springs below, blessings of the breast and womb.
26
Your father’ s blessings are greater than the blessings of the ancient mountains, than c the bounty of the age-old hills.
Let all these rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince among d his brothers.
27
“ Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he divides the plunder.”
28
All these are the twelve tribes of Is ra el, and this is what their fa ther said to them when he blessed them, giv ing each the bless ing ap propri ate to him.
The Death of Jacob
29
Then he gave them these in struc tions:“ I am about to be gath ered to my peo ple. Bury me with my fa thers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hit tite, 30 the cave in the field of Mach pe lah, near Mam re in Ca naan, which Abra ham bought along with the field as a buri al place from Ephron the Hit tite. 31 There Abra ham and his wife Sar ah were bur ied, there Isaac and his wife Re bek ah were bur ied, and there I bur ied Leah. 32 The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hit tites. e”
33
When Ja cob had fin ished giv ing in structions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gath ered to his peo ple.
50
Jo seph threw him self on his fa ther and wept over him and kissed him. 2 Then Joseph di rect ed the phy si cians in his ser vice to embalm his fa ther Is ra el. So the phy si cians em balmed him, 3 tak ing a full for ty days, for that was the time re quired for em balm ing. And the Egyp tians mourned for him sev en ty days.
4
When the days of mourn ing had passed, Joseph said to Phar aoh’ s court,“ If I have found fa vor in your eyes, speak to Phar aoh for me. Tell him,
5
‘ My fa ther made me swear an oath and said,“ I am about to die; bury me in the tomb I dug for my self in the land of Ca naan.” Now let me go up and bury my fa ther; then I will re turn.’”
6
Phar aoh said,“ Go up and bury your fa ther, as he made you swear to do.”
7
So Jo seph went up to bury his fa ther. All Pharaoh’ s of fi cials ac com pa nied him— the dig ni tar ies of his court and all the dig ni tar ies of Egypt—
8 be sides all the mem bers of Jo seph’ s house hold and his broth ers and those be long ing to his father’ s house hold. Only their chil dren and their flocks and herds were left in Go shen. 9 Char i ots and horse men f also went up with him. It was a very large com pa ny.
10
When they reached the thresh ing floor of Atad, near the Jor dan, they la ment ed loud ly and bit ter ly; and there Jo seph ob served a sev en-day
a
23,24 Or archers will attack... will shoot... will remain... will stay b
25 Hebrew Shaddai c
26 Or of my progenitors, / as great as d
26 Or of the one separated from e
32 Or the descendants of Heth f
9 Or charioteers
49:22 – 26 The ambiguous and cryptic nature of the Hebrew text of these verses makes interpretation difficult; Jacob could be referring to Joseph positively or negatively, or both.
49:22 Joseph is a fruitful vine The Hebrew phrase used here, ben porath, could refer to a“ fruitful vine”( or“ fruitful bough”) or a“ wild donkey”( or“ wild colt”). Genesis 49:21 uses animal imagery, and vv. 23 – 24 use military imagery, which may suggest that a translation referring to an animal is more fitting.
49:24 This verse ascribes the success of Jacob to God, using various metaphors and titles for God to do so.
49:24 the Shepherd Shepherd imagery for God and rulers is found throughout the OT( e. g., Nu 27:17; 2Sa 5:2; 1Ki 22:17; Eze 34:23; 37:24). 49:27 Benjamin is a ravenous wolf Given the portrayal of young Benjamin in the Joseph story( Ge 43 – 45), this description is unexpected. However, it fits later events. For example, in the book of Judges troops from the tribe of Benjamin are described as experts with the sword and sling( Jdg 20:15 – 25).
49:28 – 33 Following Jacob’ s blessings and curses, he gives instructions concerning his death and burial. His death causes anxiety for Joseph’ s brothers— which they express in Ge 50. The end of ch. 49 leaves the reader unsure of how things will turn out.
50:1 – 26 Joseph’ s brothers view Jacob as a restraining force— Joseph will never hurt his father by punishing his brothers. But when Jacob dies, the brothers fear reprisals for their past actions. Apparently they were unsure of the forgiveness that Joseph had already offered( 45:4 – 15). To ensure their survival, they concoct a story that Joseph ultimately accepts. Their story does not affect the way Joseph treats his brothers; he has already forgiven them. But it does provide Joseph with an opportunity to once again affirm how God has used the situation for good.
50:2 embalm his father Joseph orders his father to be embalmed in the Egyptian manner. 50:3 seventy days Other passages indicate that the normal Hebrew period of mourning was 30 days( see Nu 20:29; Dt 34:8). This means that this period of time likely includes 40 days for embalming. 50:10 the threshing floor of Atad This site is not