A Journey Thru The Bible's First Book

[Beetow]

• Gen 49:16 . . Dan shall govern his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.

That prediction alludes to Dan's autonomous attitude towards the other tribes. In
point of fact, Dan's tribe didn't join forces with the others in the north to help repel
oppressors. (Judg 5:17)

A good example of Dan's autonomous attitude is Mr. Samson. During his tenure as
a Judge in Israel (Judg 13:1-16:31) Samson never mustered an army nor led his
own men in a charge up a San Juan hill. He fought alone, and he died alone; and
seemed to prefer it that way. Definitely neither a commander nor a team player.

• Gen 49:17 . . Dan shall be a serpent by the road, a viper by the path, that bites
the horse's heels so that his rider is thrown backward.

A number of poisonous snakes-- e.g. rattlesnakes --don't hunt for food by chasing
their prey in racy pursuit but choose rather to coil up and patiently wait along the
edges of paths for something to come along. They're typically sluggish on the move
but very speedy on the strike. Rattlers, especially, are powerful strikers that don't
even have to clamp down to bite. Their strike inertia is powerful enough to drive
their fangs into a target's flesh like sewing needles.

When rattlers bite large animals like horses, it's not for food, but generally a
reflexive response to a perceived threat; which suggests that Dan's tribe would
have hair-trigger tempers that flair up at every provocation-- real or imagined
totally surprising the objects of their fury. People like that are extremely reactive:
they're never rational and objective, no, they are emotional, thin-skinned and easily
insulted; they get mad over nothing, and every disagreement is an act of war.

It's conceivable that the viper-ish nature of Dan's tribe reminded Jacob of Gen
3:15's prediction to crush the head of the Serpent who caused Man's ruin; and
possibly prompted his next remark.

• Gen 49:18 . . I wait for your deliverance, O Lord!

Everyone becomes curious at one time or another how the Old Testament's
luminaries were saved prior to Christ's crucifixion. Well, the interesting thing is:
they were all aware that Christ was on the way.

"Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come
to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and
circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted
the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow." (1Pet 1:10-11)

A prophet is simply an inspired man-- the earliest known were Abel (Luke 11:50
51) Enoch (Jude 1:14) Noah (2Pet 2:5) and Abraham. (Gen 20:7)

In other words: pre-crucifixion believers looked forward to Christ, while post
crucifixion believers look back.

"Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced as he looked forward to my coming. He saw it and
was glad." (John 8:56)

• Gen 49:19 . . Gad shall be raided by raiders, but he shall raid at their heels.

Gad's tribe, along with Rueben and Manasseh, chose to settle on the wrong side of
the Jordan River instead of crossing over into Canaan (Num 32:1-32). Their
decision effectively isolated them from the other nine tribes and left their eastern
flank vulnerable to desert marauders; which were more nuisance than anything else
as Gad's tribe were competent warriors and able to hold their own. (cf. 1Chrn 5:18)

Though the major portion of Christ's ministry was confined within the national
borders of Israel, he crossed over the Jordan on occasion to visit the three tribes on
the east side (Matt 11:21, Mark 6:45). Gad was the region of the famous swine
herd suicide. (Mark 5:1-13)

• Gen 49:20 . . Asher's bread shall be rich, and he shall yield royal dainties.

Asher's tribe was apportioned land bordering Zebulun and Naphtali, along the
Mediterranean coastline in the region of ancient Tyre. The area was famed for its
fertility (Deut 33:24). Ashur was located in a Phoenician stronghold of political and
commercial activity. The phrase "he shall yield royal dainties" possibly alludes to
the tribe's best produce being sold to supply the homes of Phoenician dignitaries.

NOTE: This chapter in Genesis wasn't recorded in prose, but rather, Hebrew poetry,
making it difficult, if not impossible, for translators to correctly interpret some of
Jacob's sayings. The poem contains tricky metaphors rather than clear facts; which
only complicates the section even more; which serves to show that anybody can read
the Bible, and anybody can parrot the Bible, but not just anybody can explain it.
_

 

[Beetow]

• Gen 49:21 . . Naphtali is a hind let loose, which yields lovely fawns.

A hind is a female of the red deer species-- males are harts. (e.g. Ps 42:1)

Red deer aren't a domestic breed; so the metaphor refers to a captured hind being
returned to the wild rather than butchered for its meat. Apparently, this particular
hind was pregnant when captured, and the hunter knew the unborn would certainly
die if he killed their mother. By returning the expectant hind to the field, the hunter
helped assure the survival of local herds; and he no doubt intended to hunt the
fawns as adults in the future. That was not only humane, but also a very wise
conservation measure too.

Exactly what Jacob meant to convey by this metaphor is difficult to ascertain with
confidence. It could be that Naphtali's people exhibited artifice, artistry,
intelligence, abilities and aptitudes that their enemies would recognize as far too
valuable to waste by just indiscriminately killing them off in wholesale slaughter
simply to seize their lands and goods.

As an example; some of Nazi Germany's scientists were brought to American and
became very useful in developing the USA's rocket science, and subsequently
NASA's space program. What if the US had executed those scientists because they
were responsible for the buzz bombs that devastated London? No, sometimes
human resources are well worth the restraint to spare them.

NOTE: Barak, an ordinary man recruited by Deborah to become a military
commander, was of Naphtali. (Judg 4:4-5:31)

• Gen 49:22 . . Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine near a spring, whose
branches climb over a wall.

Jacob's assessment of Joseph is similar to the assessment of a blessed man in the
very first Psalm.

"Blessed is the man who has not followed the counsel of the wicked, nor taken the
path of sinners, nor joined the company of the insolent; rather, Yhvh's teaching is
his delight, and he studies that teaching day and night. He is like a tree planted
beside streams of water, which yields its fruit in season, whose foliage never fades,
and whatever it produces thrives."

• Gen 49:23 . . Archers bitterly assailed him; they shot at him and harried him.

The "archers" in that sentence are the kind who wait in ambush.

Well, that certainly happened to Joseph. He was totally ambushed by his very own
brothers, and then later on, ambushed by Potipher's wife. But he escaped them all.
They thought to ruin Joseph, but he prospered instead.

• Gen 49:24-25a . .Yet his bow stayed taut, and his arm were made firm by the
hands of the Mighty One of Jacob-- there is the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel --the
God of your father who helps you, and Shaddai who blesses you

It is so easy to admire Joseph's perseverance in the face of overwhelming adversity
while overlooking the real reason behind his success. It was Yhvh's providence all
the way. Left to himself, it's very likely Joseph would have been dead before he was
thirty years old; either by murder, execution, or suicide.

• Gen 49:25 . .With blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lurk
below, blessings of the breast and womb.

Those blessings consist of rain, dew, and abundant water resources; all of which
depict fruitfulness of the soil and the fecundity of both man and beast.

• Gen 49:26. .Your father's blessings surpassed the blessings of my ancestors, to
the utmost bounds of the eternal hills. May they rest on the head of Joseph, on the
brow of the elect of his brothers.

Compare Deut 33:13-17 where Manasseh and Ephraim are indirect recipients of
Joseph's blessings, and will apparently conquer and colonize quite a bit of the earth
some day in the future.

Jacob pronounced Joseph the "elect" of his brothers not out of a spirit of favoritism,
but out of a spirit of prophecy. You can easily tell that Yhvh is micro-managing the
entire meeting.

Compared to man, the hills really are eternal; viz: perpetual from one generation to
another. Jacob's ancestors included Abel, Seth, and Noah. They were good men but
none of them inherited the promises God made to Abraham; which are promises
just as eternal as the hills; if not more so.
_

 

[Beetow]

• Gen 49:27 . . Benjamin rends in pieces, like a wolf-- in the morning he consumes
the prey, and in the evening he apportions the booty.

That is hardly the picture of a peaceful, agrarian society. Israel used to be a land of
milk and honey (Ex 3:8) and you have to wonder what on earth happened that
caused the transformation of a tribe of herders and farmers into human predators.

As a testament to the cruel nature of the tribe of Benjamin, Israel's first king-- ego
driven, selfish Mr. Saul --came from there. (1Sam 9:1-2)

The nightmarish events of Judges 19 and 20 took place in Benjamin's borders and
led to the tribe's decimation in a brief civil war.

• Gen 49:28 . . All these were the tribes of Israel, twelve in number, and this is
what their father said to them as he bade them farewell, addressing to each a
parting word appropriate to him.

Numbering the tribes of Israel is tricky because Jacob has twelve birth sons, and
two adopted sons; which adds up to fourteen. But the tribes are always listed so
that the numbering comes out to twelve. Compare the list at Rev 7:5-8 where
everybody but Dan and Ephraim are named so that the number again comes out to
twelve. The same strange numbering system was employed in counting the Lord's
apostles. Even after Judas was eliminated, they were still referred to as the twelve.
(1Cor 15:5)

• Gen 49:29-33 . .Then he instructed them, saying to them: I am about to be
gathered to my kin. Bury me with my fathers in the cave which is in the field of
Ephron the Hittite, the cave which is in the field of Machpelah, facing Mamre, in the
land of Canaan, the field that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite for a burial
site-- there Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried; there Isaac and his wife
Rebecca were buried; and there I buried Leah --the field and the cave in it, bought
from the Hittites.

. . .When Jacob finished his instructions to his sons, he drew his feet into the bed
and, breathing his last, he was gathered to his kin.

The phrase "gathered to his kin" is an action separate from being buried side by
side with kin in a cemetery. Jacob was gathered to his kin immediately upon
expiration, but wasn't buried with them till more than seventy days after his
demise.

According to Christ, though Jacob's flesh expired many centuries ago in Egypt, he
continues to exist somewhere else.

"But now, as to whether the dead will be raised-- even Moses proved this when he
wrote about the burning bush. Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, he
referred to Yhvh as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
So He is the God of the living, not the dead. They all live unto Him." (Luke 20:37
38)

There is a region in the netherworld where faithful Israelites were at one time
warehoused waiting for the resurrection of their bodies. (e.g. Luke 16:19-31, cf.
Matt 17:1-9)
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[Beetow]

• Gen 50:1 . . Joseph threw himself upon his father's face and wept over him and
kissed him.

It almost looks like Joseph smothered his dad; but in reality that scene was
probably a bit difficult to put in writing because there's so much emotion. I think
what we're actually looking at there is a one last cheek-to-cheek farewell with
Joseph clutching his father's hand; and I would not have liked to be in the room
when it took place because Joseph was terribly broken up by his dad's passing.

The word for "wept" is bakah (baw-kaw') and means not just to weep, but to
bemoan; which Webster's defines as: to express deep grief and/or distress. Deep
grief is what people undergo when they experience loss.

If there is one salient characteristic of Jacob's family, I would have to say it was a
lack of affection. Joseph seemed the only one in the entire home who was truly
bonded with his dad. His siblings were somehow detached; and I think that the
multiplicity of their mothers might have something to do with that.

When I found out that my own dad had two sons besides me by two other women,
it destroyed any notion I had of feeling special in my own home; especially when
the only son my dad was ever really proud of was one that didn't even live with us;
but with whom my dad stayed in contact over the years without telling me.

• Gen 50:2 . .Then Joseph ordered the physicians in his service to embalm his
father, and the physicians embalmed Israel.

It is apparently well known that mummification, with all its elaborate ritual, played
a crucial role in Egyptian religion and was bound up with the cult of Osiris and
concepts of the afterlife. Existence after death was taken for granted by the
Egyptians. Central to this notion was the belief in the importance of the physical
preservation of the deceased's body. They took meticulous care to prevent the
putrefaction of the corpse in order to ensure the right of the dead to immortality.

I seriously doubt Egypt's religion played a role in Joseph's decision to embalm his
dad. His reason was simply one of practicality. The body was to be transported to
Palestine for burial, and if care wasn't taken to preserve it, poor old Jacob would be
in a terrible state of decay by the time they arrived; and very smelly too.

Joseph's own personal physicians performed the task rather than professional
morticians, thus assuring nobody would come around to defile Jacob with pagan
rituals, garments, and/or enchantments and spiritual potions. Jacob's life, and
afterlife, were fully consecrated to Yhvh; and no pagan deities were permitted an
attempt to claim a share of his future. (cf. Jude 1:9)

• Gen 50:3 . . It required forty days, for such is the full period of embalming. The
Egyptians mourned him seventy days

I wouldn't be a bit surprised if the bewailing wasn't mandatory like that of North
Korea's when Kim Jong Il passed. Citizens of that country are not only denied the
freedom of speech, but they don't even have the freedom of grief.

There exists no information about embalming procedures from Joseph's era but
there is some available from the fifth century BC and from the late Hellenistic
period. Herodotus (Histories 2.86) reports that bodies were soaked in niter
(potassium nitrate) for seventy days.

Diodorus of Sicily (Histories 1.91) describes a thirty-day dressing of the corpse with
oils and spices and seventy-two days of public mourning for a king. That practice
probably corresponds to the American flag being raised at half mast for deceased
dignitaries and notable personages.

Jacob was afforded royal honors no doubt brought about by Josephs' influence, and
his connections with Egypt's aristocrats; sort of like John F. Kennedy Jr's burial at
sea from the US Navy's Spruance class destroyer USS Briscoe.

The junior Kennedy never served in the US military, nor in any Federal civil service
capacity whatsoever; ergo: he certainly did not merit burial at sea from a US Navy
vessel; but the Kennedy dynasty is very influential, and well connected; and has
been for a good many years beginning with patriarch Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. That
just goes to show that there's undue advantages to being connected in this world.

Anyway, under his son Joseph's auspices, Jacob's was the most grandiose funeral of
any of Israel's primary patriarchs including Abraham, the paterfamilias of the entire
family.
_

 

[Beetow]

• Gen 50:4a . . and when the mourning period was over, Joseph spoke to Pharaoh's
court

It's curious that Joseph didn't meet with Pharaoh in person; I mean, after all,
Joseph was second in command over the entire country of Egypt, and certainly
outranked all of Pharaoh's courtiers. It's guessed by some that in the Egypt of
Joseph's day, a dead man's close kin were deemed unfit to approach a Pharaoh.
Whether it was for religious reasons, or just simply customary propriety is
unknown.

• Gen 50:4b-5a . . saying; Do me this kindness, and lay this appeal before
Pharaoh: "My father made me swear, saying; I am about to die. Be sure to bury me
in the grave which I made ready for myself in the land of Canaan."

Apparently some time in the past, prior to his immigration to Egypt, Jacob spent
some time in Abraham's cemetery preparing a spot in it for his own burial so that
his surviving kin only had to take him there-- no muss, no fuss, no money
problems, and no legal hassles. It's a good idea for people to make arrangements
for their own burials rather than leaving it all up to the inconvenience of their kin.

• Gen 50:5b . . Now, therefore, let me go up and bury my father; then I shall
return.

It's quite probable that Joseph's assurance of his return anticipated Pharaoh's
anxiety that Joseph might stay back in the land with his brothers if permitted to
leave the country and thus The Man would lose the services of not only his
kingdom's best cattle ranchers but also the services of an extraordinarily capable
bureaucrat.

• Gen 5:6 . . And Pharaoh said: Go up and bury your father, as he made you
promise on oath.

Pharaoh's choice of words, though inadvertent, were quite appropriate. Travel to
Israel is to go "up" and to leave it is to go down. Israel is biblically regarded as the
top of the mountains. (Isa 2:2-3)

• Gen 50:7-8 . . So Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the
officials of Pharaoh, the senior members of his court, and all of Egypt's dignitaries,
together with all of Joseph's household, his brothers, and his father's household;
only their children, their flocks, and their herds were left in the region of Goshen.

Leaving the children and the flocks back in Egypt was not only a practical
consideration but served to reassure Pharaoh that Joseph and his family fully
intended to return as he had promised; which sort of reminds me of a scene in
Goodbye Girl when Richard Dreyfuss leaves his guitar behind when he goes to a
new acting job to assure Marsha Mason he'll be back.

When people pick up and move; lock, stock, and barrel; you pretty much know they
aren't coming back; which is probably why a later-to-come Pharaoh wouldn't let
Moses go to worship with everything his people possessed. (Ex 10:24)

Precisely why Pharaoh's courtiers, and all of Egypt's dignitaries came along is hard
to understand unless protocol and custom demanded they pay their respects
because of Joseph's rank. Though he wasn't really a home boy, Joseph's marriage
to the daughter of the priest of On, and his Pharaoh-given name of Tsophnath
Pa'neach, made him a naturalized Egyptian; and he was entitled to just as much of
the nation's respect afforded its native sons.

NOTE: I've heard it said that the reason half of us go to funerals is to pay our
respects to people we avoided when they were alive.

• Gen 50:9 . . Chariots, too, and horsemen went up with him; it was a very large
troop.

The unit of fighting men was likely for safeguarding all the dignitaries. Palestine
was a frontier in those days; and a caravan of aristocrats would be a really
tempting target for brigands.
_

 

[Beetow]

• Gen 50:10 . .When they came to Gorena ha-Atad, which is beyond the Jordan,
they held there a very great and solemn lamentation; and he observed a mourning
period of seven days for his father.

A geographic location described as "beyond the Jordan" suggests the east side of
the river but the term is ambiguous and can just as easily mean west (e.g. Deut
3:18-20).

The Hebrew word for Gorena is goren (go'-ren) which identifies smooth places; e.g.
threshing floors or any cleared space like a parade ground. Judging by the size of
Joseph's cortege, I'd have to say Gorena ha-Atad comprised some appreciable
acreage.

Seven days became a traditional period of Jewish mourning (e.g. 1Sam 31:13, Job
2:13)

• Gen 50:11 . . And when the Canaanite inhabitants of the land saw the mourning
at Goren ha-Atad, they said; This is a solemn mourning on the part of the
Egyptians. That is why it was named Abel-mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.

Abel-mizraim means Meadow of the Egyptians. Unfortunately, it's precise location
has been lost in antiquity.

• Gen 50:12-14 . .Thus his sons did for him as he had instructed them. His sons
carried him to the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of
Machpelah, the field near Mamre, which Abraham had bought for a burial site from
Ephron the Hittite. After burying his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his
brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.

If Joseph and his brothers were aware of the prediction Yhvh made to Abraham
back in Gen 15:13-14, then they probably returned to Egypt with heaviness
knowing in advance that slavery and oppression were in store for their progeny.

NOTE: But then again there are folk like King Hezekiah who, when told of his
progeny's rather grim future, was grateful that it would happen to them instead of
him. (Isa 39:5-8)

• Gen 50:15 . .When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said:
What if Joseph still bears a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrong
that we did him?

Where did they get the idea that Joseph was bearing any grudge at all, let alone
"still" bearing a grudge? You know what they did? They did just what Laban did to
Jacob back in chapter 31 when he threatened Jacob with Divine retribution if he
abused Rachel and Leah or dumped them for other women.

Jacob had worked for Laban, on his ranch, up close and personal for twenty years
and never gave Laban one single reason to either believe, or suspect that Jacob
might do unkind things to his wives. In other words: Laban projected; that is: he
assumed everyone was like himself. Now that's an ego!

Joseph's brothers had a wicked conscience. It wasn't beyond them to project their
own base motives upon everybody else and assume everybody else would do the
very same things they themselves would do in their place. They totally brushed
aside the gracious reception they received in Joseph's house back in chapter 45 and
replaced his hospitality with their own corrupt imaginations; not to mention the
seventeen years just past when they lived a very good life in Egypt under Joseph's
generous auspices.

Nobody's reputation is safe in the hands of people like that who fail to take into
consideration someone's impeccable track record.

• Gen 50:16-17a . . So they sent this message to Joseph: Before his death your
father left this instruction: So shall you say to Joseph; Forgive, I urge you, the
offense and guilt of your brothers who treated you so harshly. Therefore, please
forgive the offense of the servants of the God of your father.

That is one of the most bold, bare-faced lies in the entire Bible. If Jacob had desired
Joseph to let his brothers off like they said, he would have met with Joseph and
said so himself in person rather than elect the brothers as his messengers
posthumously.

• Gen 50:17b . . And Joseph was in tears as they spoke to him.

The people referred to as "they" were not the brothers, but rather, the messengers
they sent. I've not doubt whatsoever that Joseph suspected the message was a lie
concocted by his brothers as a desperate measure to save their own skins. His
disappointment in them for not trusting him must have been overwhelming. Joseph
had never done even one single thing in his entire life to deliberately injure his
brothers and this is how they react?

• Gen 50:18-21 . . His brothers went to him themselves, flung themselves before
him, and said: We are prepared to be your slaves. But Joseph said to them: Have
no fear. Am I a substitute for God? Besides, although you intended me harm, God
intended it for good, so as to bring about the present result-- the survival of many
people. And so, fear not. I will sustain you and your children. Thus he reassured
them, speaking kindly to them.

They say repetition is an effective teaching aid; and it's probably because some
people just don't pay attention. Joseph had already made a similar speech to his
brothers once before already in chapter 45 and here he is having to do it all over
again. Their lack of trust in his word as a man of honor and integrity is just
unforgivable.
_

 

[Beetow]

• Gen 50:22-26 . . So Joseph and his father's household remained in Egypt. Joseph
lived one hundred and ten years. Joseph lived to see children of the third
generation of Ephraim: the children of Machir, son of Manasseh, were likewise born
upon Joseph's knees.

. . . At length, Joseph said to his kin: I am about to die. God will surely take notice
of you and bring you up from this land to the land that He promised on oath to
Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. So Joseph made the children of Israel swear,
saying: When God has taken notice of you, you shall carry up my bones from here.

. . . Joseph died at the age of one hundred and ten years; and he was embalmed
and placed in a coffin in Egypt.

Josephs' "coffin" was likely an ornate mummy case; and kept in storage above
ground in a special location sort of like a shrine or a memorial. As they say: Out of
sight, out of mind. Keeping Joseph's remains perpetually on view would make it
difficult for the people of Israel to forget him.

Did Joseph ever make it back home again? Yes; he finally did.

"Now the Israelites went up armed out of the land of Egypt. And Moses took with
him the bones of Joseph, who had exacted an oath from the children of Israel,
saying: God will be sure to take notice of you; then you shall carry up my bones
from here with you." (Ex 13:18-19)

"The bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried
at Shechem, in the piece of ground which Jacob had bought for a hundred kesitahs
from the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, and which had become a heritage of
Joseph's progeny." (Josh 24:32)

Genesis records Jacob purchasing the property (Gen 33:17-20). But Stephen said it
was Abraham's transaction (Acts 7:15-16) which strongly suggests that the county
recorder in the community of Shechem was a bit careless with his paperwork and
let Abraham's deed slip through a crack; necessitating Jacob pay for the lot all over
again; likely at a higher price the second time around.

-- The End --