†. Gen 50:1 . . Joseph threw himself upon his father's face and wept
over him and kissed him.
It almost looks like Joseph smothered his dad; but in reality that scene was
probably a bit difficult to put in writing because there's so much emotion. I
think what we're actually looking at there is a one last cheek-to-cheek
farewell with Joseph clutching his father's hand; and I would not have liked
to be in the room when it took place because Joseph was terribly broken up
by his dad's passing.
The word for "wept" is bakah (baw-kaw') and means not just to weep, but to
bemoan; which Webster's defines as: to express deep grief and/or distress.
Deep grief is what people undergo when they experience loss.
If there is one salient characteristic of Jacob's family, I would have to say it
was a lack of affection. Joseph seemed the only one in the entire home who
was truly bonded with his dad. His siblings were somehow detached; and I
think that the multiplicity of mothers is what did it.
When I found out that my own dad had two sons besides me by two other
women, it destroyed any notion I had of feeling special in my own home;
especially when the only son my dad was ever really proud of was one that
didn't even live with us; but with whom my dad stayed in contact over the
years without telling me. Is it any real mystery then why so many of Jacob's
sons turned out to be such sociopathic monsters? Jacob never really loved
them like he loved Joseph. They were just a brood of whelps; nothing
special.
†. Gen 50:2 . .Then Joseph ordered the physicians in his service to
embalm his father, and the physicians embalmed Israel.
It is apparently well known that mummification, with all its elaborate ritual,
played a crucial role in Egyptian religion and was bound up with the cult of
Osiris and concepts of the afterlife. Survival of death was taken for granted
by the Egyptians. Central to this notion was the belief in the importance of
the physical preservation of the deceased's body. They took meticulous care
to prevent the putrefaction of the corpse in order to ensure the right of the
dead to immortality.
I seriously doubt Egypt's religion played a role in Joseph's decision to
embalm his dad. His reason was simply one of practicality. The body was to
be transported to Palestine for burial, and if care wasn't taken to preserve it,
poor old Jacob would be in a terrible state of decay by the time they arrived;
and very smelly too.
Joseph's own personal physicians performed the task rather than
professional morticians, thus assuring nobody would come around to defile
Jacob with pagan rituals, garments, and/or enchantments and spiritual
potions. Jacob's life, and afterlife, were fully consecrated to Yhvh; and no
pagan deities were permitted an attempt to claim a share of his future.
†. Gen 50:3 . . It required forty days, for such is the full period of
embalming. The Egyptians bewailed him seventy days
There exists no information about embalming procedures from Joseph's era
but there is some available from the fifth century BC and from the late
Hellenistic period. Herodotus (Histories 2.86) reports that bodies were
soaked in niter (potassium nitrate) for seventy days,
Diodorus of Sicily (Histories 1.91) describes a thirty-day dressing of the
corpse with oils and spices and seventy-two days of public mourning for a
king. That practice probably corresponds to the American flag being raised at
half mast for deceased dignitaries and notable personages.
Jacob was afforded royal honors no doubt brought about by Josephs'
influence, and his connections with Egypt's aristocrats; sort of like J.F.K.
Junior's burial at sea from the US Navy's Spruance class destroyer USS
Briscoe. J.F.K. Jr. never served in the US military, nor in any Federal civil
service capacity whatsoever; ergo: he certainly did not merit burial at sea
from a US Navy vessel; but the Kennedy dynasty is very influential, and well
connected; and has been for a good many years beginning with patriarch
Joseph P. Kennedy Senior. That just goes to show you that it doesn't hurt to
be connected in this world.
Anyway, under his son Joseph's auspices, Jacob's was the most grandiose
funeral of any of Israel's primary patriarchs, including Abraham the
paterfamilias of the entire family.
†. Gen 50:4a . . and when the wailing period was over, Joseph spoke
to Pharaoh's court
It's curious that Joseph didn't meet with Pharaoh in person; I mean, after
all, Joseph was second in command over the entire country of Egypt, and
certainly outranked all of Pharaoh's courtiers. It's guessed by some that in
the Egypt of Joseph's day, a dead man's close kin were deemed unfit to
approach a Pharaoh. Whether it was for religious reasons, sanitation, or just
simply customary propriety is not known.
†. Gen 50:4a-5a . . saying; Do me this kindness, and lay this appeal
before Pharaoh: "My father made me swear, saying; I am about to
die. Be sure to bury me in the grave which I made ready for myself
in the land of Canaan."
Apparently, some time in the past, prior to Jacob's immigration to Egypt, he
spent some time in Abraham's cemetery preparing a spot in it for his own
burial so all that his surviving kin had to do upon his demise was just take
him there-- no muss, no fuss, no money problems, and no legal hassles. It's
a good idea for people to make arrangements for their own burials rather
than leaving it all up to the inconvenience of their kin.
†. Gen 50:5b . . Now, therefore, let me go up and bury my father;
then I shall return.
It's quite probable that Joseph's assurance of his return anticipated
Pharaoh's anxiety that Joseph might stay back in the land with his brothers
if permitted to leave the country and thus The Man would lose the services
of not only his kingdom's best cattle ranchers but also the services of an
extraordinarily capable bureaucrat.
†. Gen 5:6 . . And Pharaoh said: Go up and bury your father, as he
made you promise on oath.
Pharaoh's choice of words, though inadvertent, were quite appropriate.
Travel to Israel is to go "up" and to leave it is to go down. Israel is biblically
regarded as the top of the mountains.
†. Isa 2:2-3 . . In the days to come, The Mount of Yhvh's House shall stand
firm above the mountains and tower above the hills; and all the nations shall
gaze on it with joy. And the many peoples shall go and say; Come, let us go
up to the Mount of Yhvh, to the House of the God of Jacob; that He may
instruct us in His ways, and that we may walk in His paths. For instruction
shall come forth from Zion, the word of Yhvh from Jerusalem.
†. Gen 50:7-8 . . So Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him
went up all the officials of Pharaoh, the senior members of his court,
and all of Egypt's dignitaries, together with all of Joseph's
household, his brothers, and his father's household; only their
children, their flocks, and their herds were left in the region of
Goshen.
Leaving the children and the flocks back in Egypt was not only a practical
consideration but served to reassure Pharaoh that Joseph and his family fully
intended to return as he had promised; which sort of reminds me of a scene
in Goodbye Girl when Richard Dreyfuss leaves his guitar behind when he
goes to a new acting job to assure Marsha Mason he'll be back. When people
pick up and move; lock, stock, and barrel; you pretty much know they aren't
coming back; which is probably why a later-to-come Pharaoh wouldn't let
Moses go to worship with everything his people possessed. (Ex 10:24)
Precisely why Pharaoh's courtiers, and all of Egypt's dignitaries came along
is hard to understand unless protocol and custom demanded they pay their
respects because of Joseph's rank. Though he wasn't really a home-boy,
Joseph's marriage to the daughter of the priest of On, and his Pharaoh-given
name of Tsophnath Pa'neach, made him a naturalized Egyptian; and he was
entitled to just as much of the nation's respect afforded its native sons.
NOTE : I's been said that the reason half of us go to funerals is to pay our
respects to people we couldn't be bothered with when they were alive.
(chuckle) That's probably true in quite a few cases.
†. Gen 50:9 . . Chariots, too, and horsemen went up with him; it was
a very large troop.
The unit of fighting men was no doubt to safeguard all the dignitaries.
Palestine was a frontier in those days; and a caravan of aristocrats would be
a really tempting target for brigands.
Cont.
/
over him and kissed him.
It almost looks like Joseph smothered his dad; but in reality that scene was
probably a bit difficult to put in writing because there's so much emotion. I
think what we're actually looking at there is a one last cheek-to-cheek
farewell with Joseph clutching his father's hand; and I would not have liked
to be in the room when it took place because Joseph was terribly broken up
by his dad's passing.
The word for "wept" is bakah (baw-kaw') and means not just to weep, but to
bemoan; which Webster's defines as: to express deep grief and/or distress.
Deep grief is what people undergo when they experience loss.
If there is one salient characteristic of Jacob's family, I would have to say it
was a lack of affection. Joseph seemed the only one in the entire home who
was truly bonded with his dad. His siblings were somehow detached; and I
think that the multiplicity of mothers is what did it.
When I found out that my own dad had two sons besides me by two other
women, it destroyed any notion I had of feeling special in my own home;
especially when the only son my dad was ever really proud of was one that
didn't even live with us; but with whom my dad stayed in contact over the
years without telling me. Is it any real mystery then why so many of Jacob's
sons turned out to be such sociopathic monsters? Jacob never really loved
them like he loved Joseph. They were just a brood of whelps; nothing
special.
†. Gen 50:2 . .Then Joseph ordered the physicians in his service to
embalm his father, and the physicians embalmed Israel.
It is apparently well known that mummification, with all its elaborate ritual,
played a crucial role in Egyptian religion and was bound up with the cult of
Osiris and concepts of the afterlife. Survival of death was taken for granted
by the Egyptians. Central to this notion was the belief in the importance of
the physical preservation of the deceased's body. They took meticulous care
to prevent the putrefaction of the corpse in order to ensure the right of the
dead to immortality.
I seriously doubt Egypt's religion played a role in Joseph's decision to
embalm his dad. His reason was simply one of practicality. The body was to
be transported to Palestine for burial, and if care wasn't taken to preserve it,
poor old Jacob would be in a terrible state of decay by the time they arrived;
and very smelly too.
Joseph's own personal physicians performed the task rather than
professional morticians, thus assuring nobody would come around to defile
Jacob with pagan rituals, garments, and/or enchantments and spiritual
potions. Jacob's life, and afterlife, were fully consecrated to Yhvh; and no
pagan deities were permitted an attempt to claim a share of his future.
†. Gen 50:3 . . It required forty days, for such is the full period of
embalming. The Egyptians bewailed him seventy days
There exists no information about embalming procedures from Joseph's era
but there is some available from the fifth century BC and from the late
Hellenistic period. Herodotus (Histories 2.86) reports that bodies were
soaked in niter (potassium nitrate) for seventy days,
Diodorus of Sicily (Histories 1.91) describes a thirty-day dressing of the
corpse with oils and spices and seventy-two days of public mourning for a
king. That practice probably corresponds to the American flag being raised at
half mast for deceased dignitaries and notable personages.
Jacob was afforded royal honors no doubt brought about by Josephs'
influence, and his connections with Egypt's aristocrats; sort of like J.F.K.
Junior's burial at sea from the US Navy's Spruance class destroyer USS
Briscoe. J.F.K. Jr. never served in the US military, nor in any Federal civil
service capacity whatsoever; ergo: he certainly did not merit burial at sea
from a US Navy vessel; but the Kennedy dynasty is very influential, and well
connected; and has been for a good many years beginning with patriarch
Joseph P. Kennedy Senior. That just goes to show you that it doesn't hurt to
be connected in this world.
Anyway, under his son Joseph's auspices, Jacob's was the most grandiose
funeral of any of Israel's primary patriarchs, including Abraham the
paterfamilias of the entire family.
†. Gen 50:4a . . and when the wailing period was over, Joseph spoke
to Pharaoh's court
It's curious that Joseph didn't meet with Pharaoh in person; I mean, after
all, Joseph was second in command over the entire country of Egypt, and
certainly outranked all of Pharaoh's courtiers. It's guessed by some that in
the Egypt of Joseph's day, a dead man's close kin were deemed unfit to
approach a Pharaoh. Whether it was for religious reasons, sanitation, or just
simply customary propriety is not known.
†. Gen 50:4a-5a . . saying; Do me this kindness, and lay this appeal
before Pharaoh: "My father made me swear, saying; I am about to
die. Be sure to bury me in the grave which I made ready for myself
in the land of Canaan."
Apparently, some time in the past, prior to Jacob's immigration to Egypt, he
spent some time in Abraham's cemetery preparing a spot in it for his own
burial so all that his surviving kin had to do upon his demise was just take
him there-- no muss, no fuss, no money problems, and no legal hassles. It's
a good idea for people to make arrangements for their own burials rather
than leaving it all up to the inconvenience of their kin.
†. Gen 50:5b . . Now, therefore, let me go up and bury my father;
then I shall return.
It's quite probable that Joseph's assurance of his return anticipated
Pharaoh's anxiety that Joseph might stay back in the land with his brothers
if permitted to leave the country and thus The Man would lose the services
of not only his kingdom's best cattle ranchers but also the services of an
extraordinarily capable bureaucrat.
†. Gen 5:6 . . And Pharaoh said: Go up and bury your father, as he
made you promise on oath.
Pharaoh's choice of words, though inadvertent, were quite appropriate.
Travel to Israel is to go "up" and to leave it is to go down. Israel is biblically
regarded as the top of the mountains.
†. Isa 2:2-3 . . In the days to come, The Mount of Yhvh's House shall stand
firm above the mountains and tower above the hills; and all the nations shall
gaze on it with joy. And the many peoples shall go and say; Come, let us go
up to the Mount of Yhvh, to the House of the God of Jacob; that He may
instruct us in His ways, and that we may walk in His paths. For instruction
shall come forth from Zion, the word of Yhvh from Jerusalem.
†. Gen 50:7-8 . . So Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him
went up all the officials of Pharaoh, the senior members of his court,
and all of Egypt's dignitaries, together with all of Joseph's
household, his brothers, and his father's household; only their
children, their flocks, and their herds were left in the region of
Goshen.
Leaving the children and the flocks back in Egypt was not only a practical
consideration but served to reassure Pharaoh that Joseph and his family fully
intended to return as he had promised; which sort of reminds me of a scene
in Goodbye Girl when Richard Dreyfuss leaves his guitar behind when he
goes to a new acting job to assure Marsha Mason he'll be back. When people
pick up and move; lock, stock, and barrel; you pretty much know they aren't
coming back; which is probably why a later-to-come Pharaoh wouldn't let
Moses go to worship with everything his people possessed. (Ex 10:24)
Precisely why Pharaoh's courtiers, and all of Egypt's dignitaries came along
is hard to understand unless protocol and custom demanded they pay their
respects because of Joseph's rank. Though he wasn't really a home-boy,
Joseph's marriage to the daughter of the priest of On, and his Pharaoh-given
name of Tsophnath Pa'neach, made him a naturalized Egyptian; and he was
entitled to just as much of the nation's respect afforded its native sons.
NOTE : I's been said that the reason half of us go to funerals is to pay our
respects to people we couldn't be bothered with when they were alive.
(chuckle) That's probably true in quite a few cases.
†. Gen 50:9 . . Chariots, too, and horsemen went up with him; it was
a very large troop.
The unit of fighting men was no doubt to safeguard all the dignitaries.
Palestine was a frontier in those days; and a caravan of aristocrats would be
a really tempting target for brigands.
Cont.
/
