Genesis 50:3 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Genesis 50:3
And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed: and the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days.
a day (as the warm hours) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Numbers 20:29 And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they mourned for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel.
Deuteronomy 34:8 And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days: so the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.
Genesis 50:10 And they came to the threshingfloor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation: and he m…
Deuteronomy 21:13 And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full mo…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 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 without floods of tears. Note, As it is an honour to die lamented, so it is the duty of survivors to lament the death of those who have been useful in their day, though for some time they may have sur…
the Egyptians mourned, &c. It was made a period of public mourning, as on the death of a royal personage.
Adam Clarke on 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.
John Gill on 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 (d) 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 days; during the time of their embalming him; for longer than seventy days the body might not lie in the pickle, as before observed, from Herodotus. According to Diodorus Siculus (e), the Egyptians used to mourn for their kings seventy two da…
OVER THE FORTY DAYS DEVOTED TO BURIAL. — The forty days spent in the tomb, which Scripture recalls, may mean something relative to the penance through which sins are buried. For this reason, the forty days of fasting that Moses (Cf. Ex 34:28), Elijah (Cf. 1Kgs. 19:8), and Our Lord Himself (Cf. Mt. 4:2), lasted forty days, And the Church calls Lent to the special observance of fasting. Even the translation of the Hebrew of the prophet Jonah thus says of the Ninevites: “Forty days, and Nineveh shall be destroyed (Jon. 3:4).” In this way we understand that during those days, certainly accommodated to the humiliation of the penitents, the Ninevites wept their sins in the midst of the fasts and attained the mercy of God. But we must not believe that this number only suits the crying of the penitents, because in this case the Lord would not have spent forty days with his disciples after the resurrection, going in and out, eating and drinking with them. And these days, of course, were for joy. And it is not necessary to think either that the version of the Septuagint, which the Church uses in her reading, is wrong, not saying: forty days, but three days, and Nineveh will be destroyed. Adorned, indeed, these Seventy men of an authority greater than the simple office of translators, possessed the prophetic spirit. That is why their versions were as close to each other as if they had spoken with one mouth. And this was a great miracle. Well, these men put three days, but they did not ignore that the Hebrew codices said forty days. And this they did so that it be understood that sins are blotted out and disappear in the glorification of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom it was said: “He who was delivered for our sins and rose again for our justification (Rom. 4:25).” Well, the glorification of the Lord is known in his resurrection and ascension to the heavens. That is why he gave twice the Holy Spirit, although he is one and the same. The first time, after the resurrection. The second, after the ascent to the heavens. And since he rose again on the third day, and ascended to heaven after forty days, one of these two things, which happened in the second place, signifies the Hebrew codices with the number of days. The other thing, which refers to the three days, which relates to the same subject, the Seventy wanted to remember, not by the literalness of translation, but by…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Alliances — On the first establishment of the Hebrews in Palestine no connections were formed between them and the surrounding nations. But with the extension of their power under the kings alliances became…
Embalming — The process of preserving a body by means of aromatics (Gen. 50:2, 3, 26). This art was practised by the Egyptians from the earliest times, and there brought to great perfection. This custom probably…
Joseph — Remover or increaser. (1.) The elder of the two sons of Jacob by Rachel (Gen. 30:23, 24), who, on the occasion of his birth, said, “God hath taken away [Heb. ‘asaph] my reproach.” “The Lord shall add…
Mourn — Frequent references are found in Scripture to, (1.) Mourning for the dead. Abraham mourned for Sarah (Gen. 23:2); Jacob for Joseph (37:34, 35); the Egyptians for Jacob (50:3-10); Israel for Aaron…
Mourning — One marked feature of Oriental mourning is what may be called its studies publicity and the careful observance of the prescribed ceremonies. (Genesis 23:2; Job 1:20; 2:12)
Arts Of The · Embalmer — Embalmer
Burial · Of persons embalmed, deferred for seventy days — Of persons embalmed, deferred for seventy days
Dead, The · Mourning for, often: Lasted many days — Mourning for, often: Lasted many days
Egypt · Mode of embalming in — Mode of embalming in
Egyptians · The art of embalming the — The art of embalming the
Embalming · Of Jacob — Of Jacob
Forty · .For embalming
John Calvin on Genesis 50:3
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, more than he ought, to the perverted manners of the Egyptians; for the world affects to believe that whatever is customary is lawful; so that what generally prevails, carries along everything it meets, like a viole…
the Egyptians mourned for Jacob for seventy days, just two days short of the mourning period for a pharaoh. This showed the great respect that the Egyptians had for Joseph.
Rashi on Genesis 50:3
וימלאו לו [AND FORTY DAYS] WERE FULFILLED — They (the physicians) completed the days of embalming until forty days were completed for him.
ויבכו אתו מצרים שבעים יום AND THE EGYPTIANS WEPT FOR HIM THREESCORE AND TEN DAYS — viz., forty days during the period of embalming and thirty more days for mourning. They wept for him during so long a period because a blessing had come to them on his arrival in Egypt for the famine then ceased and the waters of the Nile again increased (Midrash Tanchuma, Nasso 26).
Mourning · The Egyptians mourned for Jacob for seventy days — The Egyptians mourned for Jacob for seventy days
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
