What Did Joseph Do After Jacob’s Death in Genesis 50?

Joseph honored his father’s burial command after Jacob died, and when his brothers feared retaliation, he told them not to be afraid and promised to care for their families. Genesis 50 records Jacob’s burial, the brothers’ conversation, and Joseph’s final charge in order. Through these scenes, we can see what Joseph did in the face of death and the evil of the past.

Why Were the Brothers Afraid of Joseph?

After Jacob died, Joseph’s brothers thought Joseph might hate them. They were afraid he would repay them for all the evil they had done to him. What they had not expressed while their father was alive came out in words after Jacob’s death.

The brothers sent word to Joseph, saying that their father had left a message. It was a request to forgive the wrong and sin they had committed. Then the brothers themselves came and fell before Joseph, saying that they were his servants. What they wanted to know was whether Joseph would repay the past with revenge.

Joseph Kept His Father’s Burial Command

Joseph first grieved deeply for his father’s death. He fell on his father’s face, wept, and kissed him. He ordered the physicians to embalm his father’s body, and the Egyptians mourned for Jacob for seventy days.

When the period of mourning was over, Joseph went to Pharaoh and asked permission to go up to the land of Canaan to bury his father. Jacob had made Joseph swear this because he had said that he should be buried in the tomb he had prepared. Pharaoh granted Joseph permission to do as he had sworn.

Joseph went up to Canaan with his brothers, all the members of his father’s household, and the officials and elders of Egypt. They mourned greatly along the way, and Joseph mourned for his father for seven days. Jacob’s sons buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah, in accordance with their father’s command. After the burial was completed, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers.

Joseph Promised Protection Instead of Revenge

When Joseph heard their message, he wept. He told his brothers not to be afraid and asked whether he was in the place of God. Even though his brothers said they would be his servants, Joseph did not threaten them or declare revenge.

Joseph did not hide the fact that his brothers had intended to harm him. But he said that God had turned it for good so that many lives might be saved. He distinguished between the brothers’ evil act and the outcome God brought about.

He told his brothers again not to be afraid. He promised that he would provide for them and their children, and he comforted them with tender words. Joseph’s answer did not end with an explanation of the past. It continued with a concrete promise to care for the family from that point on.

Joseph’s Final Words Pointed to God’s Promise

Joseph lived in Egypt with his family and lived to be one hundred and ten years old. As death approached, he told his brothers that he would die, but that God would take care of them. He said that God would bring them up out of Egypt and into the land that He had sworn to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Joseph made the sons of Israel swear that they would carry up his bones. Later, Joseph died at the age of one hundred and ten, and his body was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt. Genesis 50 ends with Joseph’s death, but his final words point to God’s work of leading the sons of Israel into the promised land.

Read Joseph’s Answer Again Today

Today, slowly read Genesis 50:19-21 once. It would be good to look in order at how Joseph speaks about his brothers’ evil, how he explains what God has done, and what he promises to his afraid brothers. In just three verses, Joseph acknowledges the evil of the past without declaring revenge, and he speaks both words that ease fear and a promise of care.

Basis in the Text

• Genesis 50:1-14
• Genesis 50:15-21
• Genesis 50:22-26