Notes for Gen 50:1LEB
"fell on." The expression describes Joseph’s unrestrained sorrow over Jacob’s death; he probably threw himself across the body and embraced his father.
Notes for Gen 50:2LEB
"his servants the physicians."
Notes for Gen 50:3LEB
"and forty days were fulfilled for him, for thus are fulfilled the days of embalming."
"wept."
Seventy days. This probably refers to a time of national mourning.
Notes for Gen 50:4LEB
"weeping."
"the house of Pharaoh."
"in the ears of Pharaoh."
Notes for Gen 50:5LEB
"saying."
The imperfect verbal form here has the force of a command.
Notes for Gen 50:6LEB
"he made you swear on oath."
Notes for Gen 50:7LEB
Or "dignitaries"; "elders."
Notes for Gen 50:9LEB
"camp."
Notes for Gen 50:10LEB
The location of the threshing floor of Atad is not certain. The expression the other side of the Jordan could refer to the eastern or western bank, depending on one’s perspective. However, it is commonly used in the OT for Transjordan. This would suggest that the entourage came up the Jordan Valley and crossed into the land at Jericho, just as the Israelites would in the time of Joshua.
"and they mourned there [with] very great and heavy mourning." The cognate accusative, as well as the two adjectives and the adverb, emphasize the degree of their sorrow.
Notes for Gen 50:11LEB
"this is heavy mourning for Egypt."
The verb has no expressed subject and so it may be translated as passive.
The name Abel Mizraim means "the mourning of Egypt."
Notes for Gen 50:15LEB
The imperfect tense could be a simple future; it could also have a desiderative nuance.
The infinitive absolute makes the statement emphatic, "repay in full."
Or "evil."
Notes for Gen 50:16LEB
The verb means "command," but they would hardly be commanding him. It probably means they sent their father’s instructions to Joseph.
Notes for Gen 50:17LEB
"and Joseph wept when they spoke to him."
Notes for Gen 50:19LEB
"For am I."
Notes for Gen 50:20LEB
"you devised against me evil."
"Yahweh devised it for good in order to do, like this day, to preserve alive a great nation."
Notes for Gen 50:21LEB
"spoke to their heart."
Notes for Gen 50:22LEB
"he and the house of his father."
Notes for Gen 50:23LEB
"saw Ephraim, the children of the third."
"they were born on the knees of Joseph." This expression implies their adoption by Joseph, which meant that they received an inheritance from him.
Notes for Gen 50:24LEB
The verb פָּקַד (paqad) means "to visit," i.e., to intervene for blessing or cursing; here Joseph announces that Yahweh would come to fulfill the promises by delivering them from Egypt. The statement is emphasized by the use of the infinitive absolute with the verb: "Yahweh will surely visit you."
The words "to give" are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
Notes for Gen 50:26LEB
"son of a hundred and ten years."
"he."