HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 419
G ENESIS 50
page 49
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“Joseph is the foal of a wild donkey,
the foal of a wild donkey at a spring—
one of the wild donkeys on the ridge.*
Archers attacked him savagely;
they shot at him and harassed him.
But his bow remained taut,
and his arms were strengthened
by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,
by the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel.
May the God of your father help you;
may the Almighty bless you
with the blessings of the heavens above,
and blessings of the watery depths below,
and blessings of the breasts and womb.
May my fatherly blessings on you
surpass the blessings of my ancestors,*
reaching to the heights of the eternal hills.
May these blessings rest on the head of
Joseph,
who is a prince among his brothers.
“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf,
devouring his enemies in the morning
and dividing his plunder in the evening.”
28 These are the twelve tribes of Israel, and
this is what their father said as he told his sons
good-bye. He blessed each one with an appropriate message.
Jacob’s Death and Burial
29 Then Jacob instructed them, “Soon I will die
and join my ancestors. Bury me with my father
and grandfather in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite. 30 This is the cave in the field of
Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite as a permanent burial site. 31 There Abraham and his wife
Sarah are buried. There Isaac and his wife, Rebekah, are buried. And there I buried Leah. 32 It
is the plot of land and the cave that my grandfather Abraham bought from the Hittites.”
33 When Jacob had finished this charge to his
sons, he drew his feet into the bed, breathed his
last, and joined his ancestors in death.
50
Joseph threw himself on his father and
wept over him and kissed him. 2 Then
Joseph told the physicians who served him
to embalm his father’s body; so Jacob* was
embalmed. 3 The embalming process took the
usual forty days. And the Egyptians mourned
his death for seventy days.
4 When the period of mourning was over, Joseph approached Pharaoh’s advisers and said,
“Please do me this favor and speak to Pharaoh
on my behalf. 5 Tell him that my father made me
swear an oath. He said to me, ‘Listen, I am about
49:22 Or Joseph is a fruitful tree, / a fruitful tree beside a
spring. / His branches reach over the wall. The meaning of the
Hebrew is uncertain. 49:26 Or of the ancient mountains.
50:2 Hebrew Israel. See note on 35:21. 50:11 Abel-mizraim
means “mourning of the Egyptians.”
to die. Take my body back to the land of Canaan,
and bury me in the tomb I prepared for myself.’
So please allow me to go and bury my father.
After his burial, I will return without delay.”
6 Pharaoh agreed to Joseph’s request. “Go and
bury your father, as he made you promise,” he
said. 7 So Joseph went up to bury his father. He
was accompanied by all of Pharaoh’s officials,
all the senior members of Pharaoh’s household,
and all the senior officers of Egypt. 8 Joseph
also took his entire household and his brothers
and their households. But they left their little
children and flocks and herds in the land of
Goshen. 9 A great number of chariots and charioteers accompanied Joseph.
10 When they arrived at the threshing floor
of Atad, near the Jordan River, they held a
very great and solemn memorial service, with
a seven-day period of mourning for Joseph’s
father. 11 The local residents, the Canaanites,
watched them mourning at the threshing floor
of Atad. Then they renamed that place (which is
near the Jordan) Abel-mizraim,* for they said,
“This is a place of deep mourning for these
Egyptians.”
12 So Jacob’s sons did as he had commanded
them. 13 They carried his body to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of
Machpelah, near Mamre. This is the cave that
• Grief
G E N E S I S 50:1-13
Sometimes Christians act as if the public
expression of grief were shameful and
unnecessary. Because we are assured of
eternal life, we expect to “be strong” and
not have to experience crushing feelings
of pain and loss when a loved one dies.
But human grief typically involves stages
of shock, anger, and depression before
moving into resolution and acceptance.
When we deny ourselves this process,
our grieving can become stuck, and our
pain may never be resolved.
This ancient passage affirms that the
process of grief is legitimate and must
be respected. Joseph goes through the
initial shock and overwhelming grief,
preparation of and participation in funeral
and memorial services, and finally closure
as his father is buried.
Although we are centuries and cultures
removed, grief today is just as real. We
must respect the way God created us
and welcome his guidance and presence
in our process of grieving.