Genesis 50:1 Joseph fell upon his father’s face, and wept upon him
Joseph had a character of deep poignance. His time away from family, trapped in prison, etc. forged forgiveness and love in his tender heart. In chapter 50, we read of his love for his father and his repeated forgiveness of his brethren. He is a great example to all of us. We should love and honor our parents and forgive any family member who has offended us. Joseph loved and forgave so readily, he made it look easy.
Genesis 50:2 Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father
Egyptian embalming techniques were better at preserving a human corpse than the formaldehyde that is used today. They would remove the internal organs (except the heart) and place them in jars next to the body. The body cavity was packed with bags of a salt called natron, and the body was packed externally in salt for 40 days, thus extracting all the moisture out of the body and creating a dehydrated corpse that would not decompose. The body was then rinsed and prepared to be wrapped in strips of linen. This technique was developed in an attempt to preserve the body for the resurrection. From tombs like Tuthankamen’s, we learn that the individual’s prized possessions were buried with them so they could be used in the resurrection. Egyptian culture and burial rites were focused on the afterlife.
“The Ancient Egyptian afterlife beliefs form a complex framework surrounding death and the journey to an eternal existence. The Egyptians viewed death as a vital transition rather than an end, with the afterlife representing an opportunity for rebirth and eternal happiness. Integral to this belief system was the notion of the soul being separate from the body, which could navigate the underworld (Duat) after death. A person’s moral conduct during their lifetime, coupled with proper funerary practices, was crucial to ensuring a safe passage to the afterlife.” (https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/religion-and-philosophy/ancient-egyptian-afterlife-beliefs)
Genesis 50:5 my father made me swear . . . in the land of Canaan, there shalt thou bury me
Joseph Smith
Look at Jacob and Joseph in Egypt, how they required their friends to bury them in the tomb of their fathers. See the expense which attended the embalming and the going up of the great company to the burial.
It has always been considered a great calamity not to obtain an honorable burial: and one of the greatest curses the ancient prophets could put on any man, was that he should go without a burial.
I have said, Father, I desire to die here among the Saints. But if this is not Thy will, and I go hence and die, wilt Thou find some kind friend to bring my body back, and gather my friends who have fallen in foreign lands, and bring them up hither, that we may all lie together.
I will tell you what I want. If tomorrow I shall be called to lie in yonder tomb, in the morning of the resurrection let me strike hands with my father, and cry, “My father,” and he will say, “My son, my son,” as soon as the rock rends and before we come out of our graves.
And may we contemplate these thing so? Yes, if we learn how to live and how to die. When we lie down we contemplate how we may rise in the morning; and it is pleasing for friends to lie down together, locked in the arms of love,9 to sleep and wake in each other’s embrace and renew their conversation. (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 295)
Genesis 50:7-13 Joseph went up to bury his father . . . and it was a very great company
“At the very ripe old age of 147, our patriarch Jacob died in Egypt, surrounded by all his children. His beloved son Joseph was at' his bedside, as also Joseph's two sons Manasseh and Ephraim, together with the patriarch's all other grandchildren.
“In the last 17 years of his life, which Jacob had spent in Egypt, he became known and beloved by all Egypt. And now that he died, he was sadly mourned by all. A period of grief and mourning throughout Egypt was proclaimed for seventy days, as though one day for each member of Jacob's family. When this period of mourning ended, the funeral procession began.
“The hearse in which Jacob's body was laid was borne shoulder high by the twelve tribes of Israel in the order which Jacob had requested: Judah, Issachar and Zebulun facing east; Reuben, Simeon and Gad on the south; Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin on the west; and Dan, Asher and Naphtali on the north. In this order the tribes of Israel were also to march many years later on their way to the Promised Land. Behind the hearse followed Levi and Joseph, and Joseph's crown lay on top of the hearse. Behind them followed members of the royal family of Pharaoh, princes and nobles and common people, in a procession that seemed to have no end.” (https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/111931/jewish/Jacobs-Last-Jouney.htm)
Genesis 50:17 Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren
James E. Faust
Most of us need time to work through pain and loss. We can find all manner of reasons for postponing forgiveness. One of these reasons is waiting for the wrongdoers to repent before we forgive them. Yet such a delay causes us to forfeit the peace and happiness that could be ours. The folly of rehashing long-past hurts does not bring happiness.
Some hold grudges for a lifetime, unaware that courageously forgiving those who have wronged us is wholesome and therapeutic.
Forgiveness comes more readily when . . . we have faith in God and trust in His word. Such faith “enables people to withstand the worst of humanity. It also enables people to look beyond themselves. More importantly, it enables them to forgive.”
All of us suffer some injuries from experiences that seem to have no rhyme or reason. We cannot understand or explain them. We may never know why some things happen in this life. The reason for some of our suffering is known only to the Lord. But because it happens, it must be endured. President Howard W. Hunter said that “God knows what we do not know and sees what we do not see.” (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2007/04/the-healing-power-of-forgiveness?lang=eng)
Genesis 50:18 his brethren . . . fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants.
Remember Joseph’s dream from long before? Joseph told his brethren:
For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.
And his brethren said to him, shalt thou indeed reign over us? Or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.
And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. (Gen. 37:7-9)
Genesis 50:20 ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good
God can make lemons into lemonade. He turns winter into spring. He turns night into day. When your life is nothing but lemons on a dark winter’s night, it is hard to see the hand of God working his magic. Joseph’s story can be ours if we have faith, wait upon the Lord, and trust in his power to repair all that is broken.
Quentin L. Cook
Among the most frequently asked questions of Church leaders are, Why does a just God allow bad things to happen, especially to good people? Why are those who are righteous and in the Lord’s service not immune from such tragedies?
. . . There are many kinds of challenges. Some give us necessary experiences. Adverse results in this mortal life are not evidence of lack of faith or of an imperfection in our Father in Heaven’s overall plan. The refiner’s fire is real, and qualities of character and righteousness that are forged in the furnace of affliction perfect and purify us and prepare us to meet God. (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2011/10/the-songs-they-could-not-sing?lang=eng)
JST Genesis 50:24-38 The Lord God will raise up a righteous branch out of my loins
While translating the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith learned that Joseph of Egypt prophesied about Lehi’s family, Moses, and a choice seer, i.e. himself. We can only imagine how Joseph felt to learn his mission had been a subject of the ancients. Lehi told his son Joseph that Joseph of Egypt “saw our day. And he obtained a promise of the Lord, that out of the fruit of his loins the Lord God would raise up a righteous branch unto the house of Israel (i.e. the Nephites) . . . [and] A choice seer (Joseph Smith) will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins . . . And Moses will I raise up, to deliver thy people out of the land of Egypt.” (2 Ne. 3:5-10)
Yet, as Joseph read his Bible, he could find no such prophesy. Presumably, Lehi knew of Joseph’s prophecy from the brass plates. Yet, what survived as the book of Genesis had omitted these important prophecies. When translating the Bible, then, Joseph was inspired to restore what was lost:
JST, Genesis 50:24–38. (Compare Genesis 50:24–26; 2 Nephi 3:4–22)
24 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die, and go unto my fathers; and I go down to my grave with joy. The God of my father Jacob be with you, to deliver you out of affliction in the days of your bondage; for the Lord hath visited me, and I have obtained a promise of the Lord, that out of the fruit of my loins, the Lord God will raise up a righteous branch out of my loins; and unto thee, whom my father Jacob hath named Israel, a prophet; (not the Messiah who is called Shilo;) and this prophet shall deliver my people out of Egypt in the days of thy bondage.
25 And it shall come to pass that they shall be scattered again; and a branch shall be broken off, and shall be carried into a far country; nevertheless they shall be remembered in the covenants of the Lord, when the Messiah cometh; for he shall be made manifest unto them in the latter days, in the Spirit of power; and shall bring them out of darkness into light; out of hidden darkness, and out of captivity unto freedom.
26 A seer shall the Lord my God raise up, who shall be a choice seer unto the fruit of my loins.
27 Thus saith the Lord God of my fathers unto me, A choice seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins, and he shall be esteemed highly among the fruit of thy loins; and unto him will I give commandment that he shall do a work for the fruit of thy loins, his brethren.
28 And he shall bring them to the knowledge of the covenants which I have made with thy fathers; and he shall do whatsoever work I shall command him.
29 And I will make him great in mine eyes, for he shall do my work; and he shall be great like unto him whom I have said I would raise up unto you, to deliver my people, O house of Israel, out of the land of Egypt; for a seer will I raise up to deliver my people out of the land of Egypt; and he shall be called Moses. And by this name he shall know that he is of thy house; for he shall be nursed by the king’s daughter, and shall be called her son.
30 And again, a seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins, and unto him will I give power to bring forth my word unto the seed of thy loins; and not to the bringing forth of my word only, saith the Lord, but to the convincing them of my word, which shall have already gone forth among them in the last days;
31 Wherefore the fruit of thy loins shall write, and the fruit of the loins of Judah shall write; and that which shall be written by the fruit of thy loins, and also that which shall be written by the fruit of the loins of Judah, shall grow together unto the confounding of false doctrines, and laying down of contentions, and establishing peace among the fruit of thy loins, and bringing them to a knowledge of their fathers in the latter days; and also to the knowledge of my covenants, saith the Lord.
32 And out of weakness shall he be made strong, in that day when my work shall go forth among all my people, which shall restore them, who are of the house of Israel, in the last days.
33 And that seer will I bless, and they that seek to destroy him shall be confounded; for this promise I give unto you; for I will remember you from generation to generation; and his name shall be called Joseph, and it shall be after the name of his father; and he shall be like unto you; for the thing which the Lord shall bring forth by his hand shall bring my people unto salvation.
34 And the Lord sware unto Joseph that he would preserve his seed forever, saying, I will raise up Moses, and a rod shall be in his hand, and he shall gather together my people, and he shall lead them as a flock, and he shall smite the waters of the Red Sea with his rod.
35 And he shall have judgment, and shall write the word of the Lord. And he shall not speak many words, for I will write unto him my law by the finger of mine own hand. And I will make a spokesman for him, and his name shall be called Aaron.
36 And it shall be done unto thee in the last days also, even as I have sworn. Therefore, Joseph said unto his brethren, God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land, unto the land which he sware unto Abraham, and unto Isaac, and to Jacob.
37 And Joseph confirmed many other things unto his brethren, and took an oath of the children of Israel, saying unto them, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.
38 So Joseph died when he was an hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and they put him in a coffin in Egypt; and he was kept from burial by the children of Israel, that he might be carried up and laid in the sepulchre with his father. And thus they remembered the oath which they sware unto him.
Craig C. Christensen
imagine Joseph’s feelings as he translated passages . . . during the translation of the Book of Mormon
Perhaps the most stunning passage in the Book of Mormon to young Joseph may have been the third chapter of 2 Nephi. This chapter contains an ancient prophecy about a “choice seer” whom the Lord would raise up in the latter days—a seer named Joseph, named after his father. This future prophet would be “esteemed highly” and would do a work “of great worth” unto his people. He would “be great like unto Moses” and would be given “power to bring forth [God’s] word.” Consider how Joseph Smith must have felt as he realized that this prophecy was about him! He was not just translating history; he was translating a vision of the last days, of the miraculous Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ—and Joseph himself would help fulfill it!
Today, almost 200 years later, it’s easy to see how this prophecy has been realized. We know about the great things Joseph accomplished as the Lord’s prophet. But remember that when Joseph translated this prophecy, he had done few of the things the prophets foretold. He was still a young man in his early 20s. The Church had not yet been organized. There were no wards or branches, no missionaries, and no temples. Hardly anyone had heard of Joseph Smith, and some of those who had, actively opposed him. Now look at the great work the Lord has wrought by the hand of His servant Joseph, notwithstanding the opposition against him. Is not the fulfillment of this prophecy compelling evidence of the prophetic calling of Joseph Smith?
To any who may be questioning their testimony of Joseph Smith or are struggling with erroneous, misleading, or superficial information about his life and ministry, I invite you to consider the fruits—the many blessings that have come to us through the miraculous mission of Joseph Smith, the Prophet of the Restoration. (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2016/10/a-choice-seer-will-i-raise-up?lang=eng)