Genesis 50:7, commentary and pictures

Genesis 50:7 belongs to the last chapters of Genesis, the Book of Beginnings. Within that book it belongs to Genesis 12-50, which records God's dealings with the chosen race, distinct from Genesis 1-11, which records God's dealings with the human race. It concludes the story of Joseph and his brethren and family. It is part of the account of Jacob's death and burial. That account follows Israel's journey to Egypt, their reception by Joseph and Pharaoh, and Jacob's prophetic blessing upon Joseph's sons and his own sons.

When Joseph went up to bury his father, all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt went up with him. The burial was in a distant land, requiring going up with an extensive funeral procession and march. The size of the escort shows the great regard and extensive honor paid to Jacob at his burial. That honor shows the impression Jacob and his family had made in Egypt. The presence of Pharaoh's household and Egypt's elders reflects public mourning and sympathy for Jacob's death.

The splendid funeral procession was full of kingly pomp and was one of the great spectacles of the Old Testament, set within the quiet, half-peopled world of patriarchs, flocks, and pastoral rest. The whole account shows God's care for preserving the progenitors and ancestors of the Seed and promised Seed. Joseph's history shows that God can guide a person through a winding course to the purpose intended for him. The funeral procession and burial, with the care Joseph gave his father, show Joseph honoring his parents in line with the fifth commandment's call, as evidence that its principle already governed God's chosen servants.

Studying the verse by books through outlining Genesis and making a title for each chapter makes its stories and characters interesting and fruitful and retains a knowledge of them.