Genesis 50

Genesis 50 is the last chapter of the book of Genesis, bringing closure to the account of Joseph and the patriarchs. Upon Jacob's death, Joseph fell upon his father's face, weeping and kissing him. He then commanded the physicians in his service to embalm Jacob's body, a process that took forty days to complete, followed by seventy days of mourning by the Egyptians. After the mourning period, Joseph sought permission from Pharaoh to fulfill his oath to bury Jacob in the land of Canaan, specifically in the cave of Machpelah that Abraham had bought. Pharaoh granted this request, and Joseph embarked on the journey with a great company that included Egyptian officials, elders, and all of Joseph's household, along with his brothers and their father's household. Only the young children and flocks remained in Goshen. When they reached the threshing floor of Atad beyond the Jordan, they held a great and solemn lamentation for seven days. The burial took place as Jacob had requested, in the cave of Machpelah in the field that Abraham had bought from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site. After fulfilling their father's wishes, Joseph and his brothers returned to Egypt. But Jacob's death brought concern to Joseph's brothers, who feared that, without their father's presence, Joseph might finally seek revenge for their past betrayal when they sold him into slavery years before. They sent word to Joseph, claiming that Jacob had instructed them before his death to ask Joseph to forgive their wrongdoing. When Joseph’s brothers came and fell before him, offering to be his servants, Joseph wept and reassured them: "Fear not: for am I in the place of God? But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good." He spoke kindly to them and comforted them. Joseph lived to see his great-grandchildren and died at the age of 110 years. Before his death, he reminded his brothers of God's promise to bring their descendants back to the promised land, saying, "God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." Joseph made the children of Israel swear an oath that, when God would lead them out of Egypt, they would carry his bones with them. After his death, Joseph's body was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt.