Genesis 50:3-4

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 50:1-6

Joseph is here paying his last respects to his deceased father. 1. With tears and kisses, and all the tender expressions of a filial affection, he takes leave of the deserted body, Gen. 50:1. Though Jacob was old and decrepit, and must needs die in the course of nature?though he was poor comparatively, and a constant charge to his son Joseph, yet such an affection he had for a loving father, and so sensible was he of the loss of a prudent, pious, praying father, that he could not part with him... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 50:3

Forty days were fulfilled for him ,.... Were spent in embalming him: for so are fulfilled the days of those that are embalmed ; so long the body lay in the pickle, in ointment of cedar, myrrh and cinnamon, and other things, that it might soak and penetrate thoroughly into it: and so Diodorus Siculus F4 lBibliothec. l. 1. p. 82. says, that having laid more than thirty days in such a state, it was delivered to the kindred of the deceased: and the Egyptians mourned for him seventy... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 50:4

And when the days of his mourning were past ,.... The forty days before mentioned, in which both the Egyptians and Jacob's family mourned for him. An Arabic writer F7 Elmacinus, p. 43. apud Hottinger. Smegma, c. 8. p. 380. says, the Egyptians mourned for Jacob forty days, which was the time of embalming; but the text is express for sventy days: Joseph spake unto the house of Pharaoh ; to the court of Pharaoh, the principal men there; so the Targum of Jonathan and the Septuagint... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 50:3

Forty days - The body it appears required this number of days to complete the process of embalming; afterwards it lay in natron thirty days more, making in the whole seventy days, according to the preceding accounts, during which the mourning was continued. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 50:4

Speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh - But why did not Joseph apply himself? Because he was now in his mourning habits, and in such none must appear in the presence of the eastern monarchs. See Esther 4:2 . read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 50:3

Verse 3 3.And forty days were fulfilled for him. We have shown already that Moses is speaking of a ceremonial mourning; and therefore he does not prescribe it as a law, or produce it as an example which it is right for us to follow. For, by the laws, certain days were appointed, in order that time might be given for the moderating of grief in some degree; yet something also was conceded to ambition. Another rule, however, for restraining grief is given to us by the Lord. And Joseph stooped,... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 50:4

Verse 4 4.Joseph spake unto the house of Pharaoh. A brief narration is here inserted of the permission obtained for Joseph, that, with the goodwill and leave of the king, he might convey his father’s remains to the sepulcher of the double cave. Now, though he himself enjoyed no common decree of favor, he yet makes use of the courtiers as his intercessors. Why did he act thus, unless on the ground that the affair was in itself odious to the people? For nothing (as we have said before) was less... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 50:1-14

The funeral of Jacob. I. THE PRIVATE SORROW . That a great and good man like Jacob, the father of a numerous family, the ancestor of an important people, the chieftain of an influential tribe, the head of the Church of God, should depart this life without eliciting from some heart a tribute of sorrow, is inconceivable. That any of his sons witnessed the last solemn act of this great spiritual wrestler, when he gathered up his feet into his bed and yielded up his spirit into the hands... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 50:1-26

Retrospect and prospect. The fellowship of Egypt with the children of Israel in the burial of Jacob is full of significance. " A very great company went with them." "Abel-Mizraim" the Canaanites called it, "a grievous mourning to the Egyptians." It seemed to them altogether an Egyptian funeral. Yet we know that it was not. The work of God's grace will transform the world that it shall not be recognized. The funeral itself said, Egypt is not our home. It pointed with prophetic... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 50:3

And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of those who are embalmed: and the Egyptians mourned (literally, wept ) for him threescore and ten days —i.e. the whole period of mourning, including the forty days for embalming, extended to seventy days, a statement which strikingly coincides with the assertion of Diodorus Siculus (1:72), that the embalming process occupied about thirty days, while the mourning continued seventy-two days; the first number, seventy,... read more

Group of Brands